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Starbucks Opening Its Bathrooms To All, Executive Chairman Says

The announcement follows the trespassing arrest of two black men who were also denied use of a Starbucks bathroom.

Starbucks Opening Its Bathrooms To All, Executive Chairman Says
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A Starbucks official says the stores' bathrooms will soon be open to everyone — whether or not they're a paying customer.

Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz said: "We don't want to become a public bathroom, but ... we don't want anyone at Starbucks to feel as if we are not giving access to you to the bathroom because you are 'less than.' We want you to be 'more than.'"

The decision follows the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks. They were denied use of the bathroom and arrested for trespassing after staying in the store and not purchasing anything while they waited for their third party to arrive. 

Black Men Arrested At Starbucks Strike A Deal With The City For $2
Black Men Arrested At Starbucks Strike A Deal With The City For $2

Black Men Arrested At Starbucks Strike A Deal With The City For $2

Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson used their arrest to do something positive for the city of Philadelphia.

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Starbucks has apologized to the two men and announced it would close its stores May 29 for an afternoon of racial bias training.

But Schultz says the May 29 session is just "the beginning, not the end of an entire transformation of our training at Starbucks." 

Additional reporting by Newsy affiliate CNN.