I have been one of Starbucks’ biggest defenders. I wrote about their #BacktoStarbucks campaign with genuine admiration and excitement. I praised Brian Niccol for talking about partners first not as a marketing line but as an operating philosophy. I celebrated the bonus announcement last week for baristas. 21 years ago I was already doing it informally as a Store Manager, and it felt like the company was leading the industry and showing how important frontline workers are.
I believed in what Starbucks built. The decision to close every store for racial bias training. Healthcare for part time workers when nobody else was doing it. A culture that called employees partners and meant it.
That’s the Starbucks I know. The one worth defending. The one that helped us with adoption cost when we started our family and was a third place for customers.
So I’ve been sitting with something tough this week.
I’ve been reading the LinkedIn posts of Starbucks corporate employees choosing not to relocate to Nashville. People who built careers inside a company that told them they mattered now facing pay cuts to move to a state that ranked last in maternal mortality in the country. A state with a near-total abortion ban. Black infants in Tennessee die at roughly 2–3 times the rate of white infants. A state where the welcome message from locals has been: we don’t want your liberals.
That’s the environment Starbucks is asking their partners to walk into.
I understand the business case. Nashville makes geographic sense for supply chain. The cost of living differential is real. Growth in the Southeast is a legitimate strategy.
But partners first isn’t a geographic convenience. It’s supposed to be a value.
We are watching too many iconic brands compromise who they are to save a few dollars or buy access to power. Bending the knee might look like strategy. But your partners are watching. And they remember what you said you stood for.
Starbucks has a choice here that most companies never get. They are moving into a state that needs what Starbucks knows how to build: belonging, care, inclusion, a seat at the table for people who have been told they don’t belong.
Starbucks: Don’t just move to Tennessee. Move Tennessee.
Bring your benefits. Bring your values. Advocate for maternal health, for women’s rights, for the partners and communities you’re entering. Be the company that changes the room instead of letting the room change you.
You closed every store in America to do the right thing once. We are watching. Lead. Please.