<p>Starbucks last week announced that it would be shutting down 150 stores in &ldquo;densely penetrated markets.&rdquo; Starbucks generally closes about 50 underperforming stores each year. ;</p>
<p>The announcement came after a measly 1% growth performance during Q2, the worst in nine years. Starbucks stock dropped 3.5% Tuesday after the company told investors to expect similar growth in Q3.</p>
<p>The slow growth during Q2 was partly attributed to Starbucks&rsquo; decision to close 8,000 stores on May 29th to offer employees &ldquo;anti-bias training&rdquo; after the incident in Philadelphia. The training cost the company &ldquo;tens of millions&rdquo; of dollars, said former CEO Howard Shultz. ;</p>
<p>Current CEO Kevin Johnson, who assumed leadership of the company last April, admitted the closures were also an attempt to ;blunt the effects of minimum wage hikes and other business regulations that are making stores unprofitable. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Our growth has slowed a bit,&rdquo; admitted Johnson. &ldquo;I expect better, I think our shareholders deserve better, and we&rsquo;re committed to address that.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Most of the closing stores are located in &ldquo;major metro areas where increases in wage and occupancy and other regulatory requirements&rdquo; are making the stores unprofitable, continued Johnson. &ldquo;Now, in a lot of ways, it&rsquo;s middle America and the South that presents an opportunity.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Starbucks, as one of the first corporations to align itself with certain social and political viewpoints, has a reputation among businesses as a &ldquo;social justice warrior.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Starbucks is famous for supporting the LGBTQ community and for its &#8220;progressive&#8221; employee benefits, such as ;free ASU classes, health insurance, stock options, and all the free coffee you can drink. These benefits are available to full- and part-time employees. ;</p>
<p><strong>In terms of politics, Starbucks is about as liberal as it gets &#8211; which is why the announcement is so ironic. ;</strong></p>
<p>Minimum wage hikes ;are a liberal idea; something you&#8217;d ;expect Starbucks to support. But now that states like Washington and Maine have increased the minimum wage to $11 and $9, respectively, Starbucks is jumping ship and running to areas with lower wages and friendlier business regulations.</p>