Matt Slocum / AP Images
Starbucks posted signs telling customers stores were closed for business.
- Starbucks closed 8,000 locations across the United States on Tuesday afternoon so that employees could undergo a racial-bias training.
- Some customers didn't get the memo and still showed up at Starbucks.
- Baristas report that dozens of angry customers tried to get into the stores, banging on doors and honking horns in the drive-thru line.
Starbucks closing 8,000 stores for racial-bias training on Tuesday afternoon was huge news.
But apparently, not every customer got the memo.
According to Starbucks employees posting on social media, stores were plagued by customers who were determined to order food and beverages even after the locations had shut down early for the day.
One person tweeted, "Watching people try to open a door to a closed Starbucks that has a sign clearly on the door that says 'We will see you tomorrow!' is hilarious."
The drive-thru created even bigger problems.
In the words of one Reddit commenter: "We had about 30 cars go through the drive thru during the meeting, our store manager cried."
Over the course of the training, one person on the Starbucks subreddit said they counted 38 people yanking on the door trying to get in. Another counted 40 at the drive-thru. Reporter Jeff Bollier said that he saw a store turn away 37 drive-thru and six walk-in customers.
The subreddit for Starbucks, r/Starbucks, was bombarded with memes about desperate customers' attempts to get into stores.
"I don't need to read that sign; I'll just open the doo-" reads one post, followed by this gif:
A certain Spongebob Squarepants meme took on some additional significance for Starbucks baristas:
As of Wednesday, Starbucks stores are once again operating with normal hours. While the impact of Tuesday's training remains to be seen, the closures proved one thing: some desperate Starbucks customers will stop at nothing to get their caffeine fix.
Read more about Starbucks' closures:
- 'Color brave,' furious customers, and 'eye-opening' interactions: Starbucks baristas reveal what it was like to attend the chain's massive racial-bias training
- Starbucks is closing all its US locations early Tuesday. Here's what you need to know.
- Starbucks is closing all locations in response to the arrest of 2 black men who tried to use a store's bathroom - and it's sparking a culture war on all sides
- Internet trolls are spreading fake Starbucks coupons exclusively for black customers after the chain announced it would close all stores for 'racial-bias education'
- Starbucks is doing something it has done only once before - and last time it cost the company $6 million
- Video shows a black man confronting a Starbucks barista about why he was apparently denied access to bathroom while a white man was not
What I learned from the Starbucks racial bias training today:
People literally don't know how to read the "STORE CLOSED" sign taped to our door at eye level and will instead yank on the door repeatedly and finally stomp off in an angry huff.
SO. many. stupid. people.
- Marwa (@ziggymardust) May 30, 2018What I learned from racial bias training today @ Starbucks:
People don't like to read and will ignore the "store closed" sign in favor of yanking on the door a few times thinking it will open
- 𖤐 (@devenxjames) May 30, 2018I'm doing the Starbucks racial sensitivity and racial anxiety training and the amount of customers that walk up to the door, try to open the locked door, don't read the huge ass sign that says we are closed, then walk around the building to try the other door is astonishing
- ᴰ'ᴬʳᵗᵃᵍᶰᵃᶰ (@DartyBoi) May 29, 2018i wish you guys would've seen the faces of the starbucks customers trying to go through the drive thru and continuously trying to pull the doors open today when we closed😂
- alex b. (@alexbasham_) May 30, 2018man the amount of people who tried coming inside Starbucks during our racial training and through drive thru was incredible , expecially when we had signs all around the building loll.
- lil ash (@ashleybelair) May 29, 2018Y'all Starbucks is closed for diversity training and the YT women are having a complete meltdown shaking doors, tapping windows, honking horns at the drive thru.
- BΔK ✨🐝 (@Linbei_) May 29, 2018We're up to 28 now, but had to share number 27, who just ignored the sign explaining what's happening (that is blocking the drive thru), pulled around it and tried to order anyway. pic.twitter.com/12RFGQ9tLe
- Jeff Bollier (@GBstreetwise) May 29, 2018Customers today after starbucks closed for training pic.twitter.com/SBBsbPulxm
- Beth Wilson (@BesWilthon) May 30, 2018