Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) will close 16 stores this month, a tiny percentage of the 15,474 it has. Management says the stores are unsafe for employees and patrons. It is odd that almost all are in Los Angeles and Seattle. Surely, those are not the only unsafe areas across the country.

Cynics about the timing and locations of the closures say the effort is to crack down on unions that have attempted to organize workers in these areas. There is scant evidence this is true.
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As crime rises in many urban areas, Starbucks may need to close hundreds of stores, if it applies the same yardstick across the country. There is no reason to believe that New York, Detroit or Baltimore areas are safer for fast-food locations. If they are, observers of crime in major cities have missed something substantial.

Logically, the problem needs to extend beyond Starbucks. Dangerous neighborhoods have to include McDonald’s locations, as well as those of Subway and Burger King. Managements of the companies, which among them have tens of thousands of locations, have to be examining the same safety issues.

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A possible future for the fast-food industry is that it shutters stores in urban areas altogether. This represents a problem for local residents. Many of these locations are among the few places they can get affordable food.

According to CNBC, these are the stores that Starbucks will close in July:

Santa Monica & Westmount
8595 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood

Hollywood & Western
5453 Hollywood Blvd., D
Los Angeles

DoubleTree Hotel at 1st & Los Angeles
120 S. Los Angeles St.
Los Angeles

Hollywood & Vine
6290 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood

Ocean Front Walk & Moss
1601 Ocean Front Walk
Santa Monica

2nd and San Pedro
232 E. 2nd St.
Los Angeles

23rd & Jackson
2300 S Jackson St.
Seattle

Roosevelt Square
6417 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle

East Olive Way
1600 E. Olive Way
Seattle

505 Union Station
Union Station, 505 5th Ave. S #505
Seattle

Westlake Center
400 Pine St.
Seattle

Hwy 99 & Airport Rd
11802 Evergreen Way
Everett, Oregon

4th & Morrison
401 SW Morrison St.
Portland

Gateway Shopping Center
10112 NE Halsey St.
Portland

10th & Chestnut
1001-1005 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia

Union Station Train Concourse
50 Massachusetts Ave. NE
Washington, D.C.

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