Starbucks to close on South Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs; union employees accuse chain of retaliation

Rich Laden, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
·2 min read

Oct. 21—A Starbucks at 1455 S. Nevada Ave., near Nevada and Brookside Street south of downtown Colorado Springs, is closing because of what the Seattle-based coffee giant says are concerns about employee safety in the area.

Starbucks officials said they planned to shutter the location Sunday, though it was closed Friday afternoon and unknown if it would reopen before its scheduled permanent closure Sunday.

Employees say the closure is not about safety but is retaliation against hourly workers at the location, who became the first in the Springs to unionize in March of this year. Workers say they were told Oct. 3 the store would close Oct. 23 — one day before they had requested that Starbucks begin collective bargaining talks with them.

Starbucks disputes the employees' accusation.

"Claims of union busting are false," spokesman Andrew Trull said via email. "We have and will continue to take action to safeguard the well-being of our partners (employees) by closing stores with ongoing safety issues." Starbucks treats stores the same regardless of union status, and non-union stores also have closed where safety was a concern, he added.

In a recent news release, employees say they had complained about safety issues for years without action from Starbucks.

"So the sudden closure 'due to safety concerns' feels like they're trying to silence us," shift supervisor Spencer Estabrooks said in the release.

After meetings with union representatives last week, Starbucks and employees reached an agreement that will allow South Nevada workers to relocate to other stores, Trull said.

The South Nevada corridor is an evolving area.

In 2015, the Colorado Springs City Council declared about 100 acres on either side of South Nevada as an urban renewal district. In addition to 1950s-era motels, pawn shops and fast-food restaurants, the corridor had a reputation for many years as a haven for homelessness, drug dealing and prostitution.

New restaurants and shopping areas now have taken shape on Nevada Avenue's west side, though few redevelopment efforts have taken place on the corridor's east side. One of those east-side projects: in 2017, Starbucks developed its South Nevada store after taking over a fast-food restaurant on the site.