PARK SLOPE — When Starbucks announced at the end of December that the Park Slope store on Seventh Ave. would serve its last frappuccino on Friday, Jan. 31, it surprised the 14 baristas and Park Slope community.  

Many questioned the motive behind the closure. While Starbucks cited lease expiration, Starbucks workers and community members suspected the Seattle-based coffee giant is closing the location because the baristas unionized in October 2024. 

Since 2021, the year Starbucks Workers United (SWU) formed, more than 500 Starbucks locations have unionized. However, Starbucks has closed numerous unionized stores, including two locations in New York City — one in Williamsburg and one in Manhattan.

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, three days before the planned closure, unionized baristas went on an unfair labor practice strike in response to Starbucks’ refusal to bargain with SWU over the store’s closure. 

Union members of the New York Hotel Trades Council and 32BJ SEIU, New York City Councilmember Shahana Hanif (D-39), and community members joined the picket line, demanding Starbucks return to the bargaining table and deliver a fair contract with raises and benefits. Union members called out Starbucks for paying its CEO Brian Niccol a $96 million package just four months after being hired, while baristas were offered a raise of just 30 cents an hour. 

Hanif, whose district includes Park Slope, said the community values “fairness, dignity and worker’s rights.” 

“It is shameful that Starbucks has decided to shut down this location, as opposed to just coming back to the table and saying, ‘How can we make sure that you stay with us?'” Hanif said. “[Starbucks] won’t silence us. Our movement will only grow, and everyone from every corner of this community will stand with workers and not Starbucks.”

Sharon Harkey, president of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID), told the Brooklyn Eagle CBID honored SWU at their recent annual fundraising dinner and thought it was “convenient” that Starbucks decided to close the location a few months after the baristas voted to join the union. 

“I could not believe that there was any real reason for them to close other than the fact that they had just unionized,” Harkey said.

Park Slope resident Wendy Sacks attended the rally to support the workers and pointed out that Starbucks has closed union stores. 

“Starbucks is supposed to be so progressive,” Sacks said. “But they’re not acting the way they promote themselves. People deserve a fair wage and fair working conditions. And I think now more than ever, we have to just keep stressing that.”

The Starbucks location in the heart of Park Slope has been around for over two decades and, despite opposition in the early days, has become a popular neighborhood hangout for Park Slopers, including parents, students and teachers from nearby schools and people who work in the area. They love the ambiance and the baristas, who many say are “exceptionally nice and welcoming.”

Orion Booth, a five-year barista and shift manager at the Park Slope store, appreciated the community support and shared stories about the friendships the baristas have formed with the residents. 

“I have a student who comes by and does her homework after school. She tells me about her school, Dungeons and Dragons campaign and how she is doing there,” Booth said.

One couple informs the baristas when they go out of town so they don’t worry about them. They also started a petition to keep the store open when they learned about the closure. 

Michelle Eisen works at a Starbucks store in Buffalo. She questioned the location’s closure because it represents Starbucks’s original vision of the “third place,” a comfortable and inviting coffee house vibe for the community to gather and socialize, separate from home and work. 

“This is your Starbucks that you want to get back to. It exists in this community,” Eisen said. “Your workers are part of that community that you are talking about; they exist within this community. So invest in your workers. Put your money in your workers because we are the ones who bring that feeling into that cafe.” 

Park Sloper Tyler Maynard visits the coffee house twice a day. While he prefers to support small businesses, the Park Slope store is his favorite Starbucks location because the baristas treat him very well and give his dog Jake love and attention, he said. Maynard suspects Starbucks closed the location because the baristas are unionized. 

“I am here every day. So I see the amount of children, I see the amount of grown ups, I see the amount of middle school kids, and high school kids. They’re so busy all day, every day; it can’t be the numbers the reason they’re closing; it just can’t be possible,” Maynard said. “I also see the other Starbucks in the neighborhood and how empty they are, and they’re still open, so it’s disgusting.” 

While Joshua Waterman prefers to buy coffee at one of the local coffee shops in Park Slope, he sympathizes with the workers and has tried ways to support them. Waterman said that closing a unionized store is something he has come to expect from mega-corporations like Starbucks because “they take advantage of workers and the middle class.” 

“I hope Park Slope won’t stand for it, and I hope Park Slope will support these unionized workers and will support local coffee shops, which we have many here in the neighborhood,” Waterman said. 

Josephine, a 10-year-old student at P.S. 321, loves to come to Starbucks after school with her friends because she loves the store’s child-friendly menu options and ambiance. She was upset about the closure because it is close to her school. 

Cheryl Washington is a frequent customer and wasn’t happy about the closure. Washington said the Starbucks location was part of the Park Slope culture and that none of the other coffee shops offered the same beautiful space where the community could gather.

 “Our kids go here. Our elderly come here [and] our business people come here. We all come here for various reasons,” Washington said. “It’s a safe space for our kids and us to come to, and it was a beautiful space to come to, and now it’s gone. It’s about the baristas who we got to know throughout the years, and they knew our drinks when we walked in the door.”

Washington was sure that the decision to close the popular location was because the baristas were unionized. 

“Come on, we all know why they closed,” Washington said. “We’re not stupid. Starbucks, don’t even try to play with us. We know why you did what you did.” 

While the rally and picketing went underway, seven protestors were arrested by the NYPD for refusing to leave after staging a sit-in in the store. According to one arrestee, they staged the sit-in to protest corporate greed.