Credit: Marco Paköeningrat
Deputy News Editor
Staff at the Starbucks on Byres Road recently removed a homeless man from their premises. The incident was witnessed by several customers.
The incident, which occurred on the evening of Monday 23 April, involved a homeless man who was “causing no trouble” according to an eyewitness.
One witness, Eleanor Wilson, a medical student at Glasgow University, said that she could overhear the staff saying “is he even going to buy anything” as the man was in the queue.
This is the third recent controversy in Glasgow that the coffee chain has been involved in, after two similar incidents in the Buchanan Street and Royal Exchange Square branches occurred in 2017.
Kathryn Stewart, district manager for Starbucks UK has responded, saying that staff “work hard each day to create a warm and welcoming place for customers” but that sometimes “action is needed to protect the safety of our customers and store teams”.
“In long-running cases such as this, we work closely with the police. This store team continue to contribute to initiatives supporting the local homeless community on a regular basis.”
The West End branch of Starbucks has been donating to The Everlasting Foodbank, a charity based in Dennistoun on a regular basis.
The Glasgow Guardian understands that the man was known to staff, and had been asked not to return to the branch on previous occasions.
However, according to an eyewitness, the man “was causing no trouble and was a paying customer.”
