Admiral Starbucks temporarily closed after employee tests positive for COVID-19

Multiple readers emailed today to ask why the recently remodeled Admiral Starbucks store had abruptly closed without explanation. We inquired with the corporate media team, and here’s the response from a spokesperson:

(W)we recently learned one of our partners at the store received a positive diagnosis for COVID-19 and is self-isolating at home for a period of time. Further to that, as soon as we learned of the diagnosis (on the same day), we quickly activated our protocols and closed the store to initiate a deep cleaning following all recommended guidelines from public health authorities.

It’s important for me to add that Starbucks takes seriously our responsibility to keep our partners and customers safe, and all partners who were deemed to have worked in close contact with this partner will be paid for the time they will miss during the recommended 14 days of self-isolation (from date of exposure). As far as re-opening, I don’t have an exact date but the store will resume operations next week.

28 Replies to "Admiral Starbucks temporarily closed after employee tests positive for COVID-19"

  • DEF June 25, 2020 (1:43 pm)

    Smart protocols. Best wishes for continued wellness to all the staff at that store!

  • Starbucks customer June 25, 2020 (2:22 pm)

    What if you were a customer in the store and might have had exposure to this employee?  Can Starbucks provide any dates the employee worked?

    • drM June 25, 2020 (4:45 pm)

      Exactly what I am thinking, as I was one of those customers… trying  to be a good citizen by supporting them. I am not casting aspersions, but clearly opening up has a risk. If those of us who supported them get infected, it will cast a real pall on this process. 

      • rme June 26, 2020 (7:03 am)

        Might I suggest supporting a smaller coffee shop if your aim is to be a good citizen? Starbucks hardly needs it. 

        • mermaid June 26, 2020 (2:56 pm)

          Starbucks employees might disagree, they probably want to keep their job.

          Also, while your local independent coffee shop has something unique to offer, Starbucks has programs that help their employees with schooling, and have programs that give back to the community, and their stores are places that everyone can go to and essentially receive the same service, even homeless people. Ever see a Starbucks on a snowy winter evening? You don’t see that kind of hospitality at the indie coffee shops, and I appreciate this about Starbucks.

          Lets support both.

      • Carey June 26, 2020 (8:39 am)

        Opening is a risk and going to a restaurant at all is also a risk. That’s why opening up had to be done cautiously.

  • Ws June 25, 2020 (2:33 pm)

    Did they indicate which days recently this employee worked so we can determine if we should be tested?

    • WSB June 25, 2020 (2:55 pm)

      No, they did not, so I asked that in followup immediately. No reply yet. As I mentioned to them, some companies routinely disclose that sort of information in these types of announcements (I routinely see this on grocery-chain websites, for example, while checking for hours changes – although those are usually much larger staffs and so info like that wouldn’t be an invasion of privacy).

      • Jen June 25, 2020 (4:41 pm)

        Multiple grocery stores in WS have had positive cases. You are just unaware of the situation. They care more about money than people’s safety. If you only knew how bad things really are ):

        • WSB June 25, 2020 (6:06 pm)

          Sorry, but we can’t report what we don’t hear about. Always here for tips, and we do our best to check them out.

  • Cycleman June 25, 2020 (3:20 pm)

    Hope the employee is doing well. Thank you Starbucks for informing the public quickly. I’m just glad the public was even informed, many places probably wouldn’t even say anything, stay open and just send that one person.  Stay healthy and stay safe!!

    • Blbl June 25, 2020 (3:54 pm)

      Well, it’s not like they volunteered the information. Tracy asked them directly.  Thank you, WSB. 

    • Kb June 25, 2020 (3:58 pm)

      Just calling out that we would not have known why it was closed without the Blog reaching out to ask! Thank you WSB!

    • Russ June 25, 2020 (5:13 pm)

      Here’s the thing though… Starbucks didn’t inform the community willingly on its own. WSB had to reach out to Starbucks after several customers inquired to WSB about the closure. Starbucks just put up a sign on their door that said they were closed with no explanation. I feel they have an obligation to inform customers, and they didn’t do that voluntarily. That’s a shame.

      • Ben June 26, 2020 (2:23 am)

        That’s the point of the blog! The in-between. We should be thankful for it. The question remains, should anyone be supporting Starbucks as a “local community business”? Though we may know a few local employees, the company is trash

        • Jill June 26, 2020 (8:14 am)

          I’m a local Starbucks partner and our company is not “trash”.  Starbucks has invested significantly in partners to maintain their safety as well as the community.

        • SuperAwesome June 26, 2020 (8:48 pm)

          Starbucks employs thousands of people in the area including hundreds in West Seattle.  Their corporate headquarters are in our backyard.In addition, Starbucks does a lot of good not just in our community but in all their operating communities.  

  • Chris June 25, 2020 (4:20 pm)

    We are a bit concerned as we just recently started going back to Starbucks…..last 2 days & now we see this .    Would it be possible to know which shift the person was on?    Don’t know if we now need to get tested or not?   We wore masks & are careful.Thank you

    • Lisa June 26, 2020 (6:17 am)

      Same… I went in Wednesday morning.

  • 22blades June 25, 2020 (6:43 pm)

    This is hardly a transparent way of dealing with a health safety issue. The second paragraph reeks of boilerplate. Kudos to WSB for pushing for even a response. They’ve got WSB’s number…

  • Coffee lover June 25, 2020 (7:07 pm)

    We LOVE the Admiral Starbucks!!! Hope to see you back soon happy and healthy. 

  • BLM June 25, 2020 (10:32 pm)

    There are new cases every day in every store, gas station, restaurant, bakery, target, mall, Costco ect. Not every business is going to announce to The WSB or public they have had an employee who has it. There is no way to know who has it or who is spreading it. All we can do is be carful, stay home if your sick and wash your hands. Thank you WSB for all you do for our community. 

    • Carey June 26, 2020 (8:41 am)

      And wear a mask so you don’t accidentally spread it when you go out. 

    • Blbl June 26, 2020 (9:25 am)

      Of course they know who has it and who is spreading it, that’s the whole point of contact tracing.  That’s why the governor asked customers to provide their name, phone number, and address if we’re going to restaurants.  I know Starbucks certainly has mine, because I used the app. when I went there twice this week.  There is no reason why Starbucks can’t contact me to let me know whether I should be tested or not. We give up a ton of identifying information when we use their technology; it would be nice if they used it to help us in this situation. 

  • MM June 26, 2020 (9:27 am)

    Just went there to pick up a pound of coffee the other day… now I am anxious… I was impressed with how clean, tidy and meticulous they were and the keeping the store safe… the customers on the other hand… I 🙄

  • flimflam June 26, 2020 (10:04 am)

    lots of concern for the ill worker, jeez…this is why everyone should wear masks in public, even precious customers – i know its mandatory now but found it odd that open restaurants are fine with people strolling in without masks yet it was mandatory that employees wear them. certainly made it clear that the servants are not as important as the paying public.

    • heartless June 26, 2020 (2:13 pm)

      Yeah, it’s odd, I agree with you.

      In the defense of some of the businesses, I think they really are in a hard place in terms of not wanting to possibly alienate customers by forcing the issue of wearing a mask (of course then they wind up alienating OTHER customers who are (rightly) nervous that so few are wearing masks… they just can’t win).  

      • flimflam June 26, 2020 (3:02 pm)

        well there isn’t much grey area now that it’s mandatory, other than the obvious like you aren’t going to wear a mask while eating. from what i gather, many businesses want to try to provide services as close to normal as possible for customers – but this is at the expense of the workers in my opinion.it is, of course, a massive turn of events for everyone and i’m trying to be understanding to that fact…

Sorry, comment time is over.