No connection between pro-Palestinian boycott and these Starbucks closures | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The claim: Starbucks is closing stores in Morocco and San Francisco because of pro-Palestinian boycotts

A Dec. 3 Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows a woman speaking about recent boycotts against Starbucks.

"For those of you who say boycotting doesn't work, Starbucks in Morocco is literally leaving the country," the woman says in the video, which was originally shared on TikTok. "Explicitly for the reasons of the lack of revenue they've had because of the pro-Palestine protest in all of Morocco. ... And in San Francisco, they announced that they will be closing seven stores."

The woman refers to several screenshots of articles, saying, "That was literally all of us, guys."

The Instagram post garnered more than 20,000 likes in a week, while the TikTok video received more than 100,000 likes in eight days. Similar versions of the claim were shared on Instagram.

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Our rating: False

A Starbucks spokesperson said the chain is still operating in Morocco. The closures in San Francisco predate the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and were part of a regular store evaluation process.

Starbucks is still operating in Morocco

Starbucks filed a lawsuit against Starbucks Workers United in October after the union shared a pro-Palestinian post on social media that the chain said negatively impacted its reputation. In response, Starbucks workers and online social media users alike initiated boycotts against the company.

The woman in the Instagram video refers to an article published by the New Arab, which claims Starbucks and H&M are both leaving Morocco "due to low demand tied to the ongoing boycott campaign." The New Arab article cites an announcement published by the Moroccan outlet Maroc Hebdo, but neither article cites any evidence to back up this claim.

Jaci Anderson, a Starbucks spokesperson, told USA TODAY in an email that the claim is false and "Starbucks continues to operate stores in Morocco.”

The store's 18 locations are still listed as open on Google Maps.

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As of Dec. 8, the New Arab article changed its headline to read, "Starbucks and H&M close in Morocco over Gaza boycott, owners deny departure citing 'reorganization.'" The updated article includes comments from spokespeople for Starbucks and the Alshaya Group, which owns Starbucks in Morocco, denying the claim.

San Francisco closures predate Israel-Hamas war

The second article shown in the Instagram video is a USA TODAY article about seven Starbucks stores closing in San Francisco. The article was published on Oct. 6, a day before the Hamas attack that sparked the ongoing Israsel-Hamas conflict. Similar articles from CBS News and the San Francisco Business Times were published even earlier, on Oct. 3.

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Anderson told USA TODAY the regional vice president of the San Francisco area sent out a statement announcing the closures on Oct. 2. The statement, which Anderson included in her email to USA TODAY, mentions the more than 40 Starbucks still open across San Francisco and the $2.5 million the chain recently invested in store renovations downtown.

"Each year as a standard course of business, we evaluate the store portfolio to determine where we can best meet our community and customers’ needs," Anderson said. "This includes opening new locations, identifying stores in need of investment or renovation, exploring locations where an alternative format is needed and, in some instances, re-evaluating where our stores are located.”

USA TODAY reached out to the websites and the Instagram user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The TikTok user couldn't be contacted.

Lead Stories and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Palestinian protest didn't push Starbucks out of Morocco | Fact check