Starbucks Korea to close 2,000 stores for history training
What's new: The operator also plans stricter marketing reviews after a May 18 "Tank Day" promotion triggered protests and a sharp sales drop.
Starbucks Korea will shut nearly all of its more than 2,000 South Korean stores at 3 p.m. on June 22 so employees can take three hours of training on historical awareness and social sensitivity, operator Shinsegae Group said. The move follows backlash over a reusable-cup promotion branded "Tank Day" on May 18, the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju uprising, when troops and tanks crushed pro-democracy protests. Shinsegae said the controversy caused a very significant early drop in sales. The company fired Starbucks Korea's chief executive when the scandal broke and apologized. It now plans to tighten approval procedures, including a social-sensitivity checklist covering history, politics, disasters, military issues, gender, violence and hate speech.