Newport (KY) Starbucks boots Dems

[theHandpuppet]

(For those of you who don't know, Newport is right across the river from Cincinnati and is considered part of the Cincy metropolitan area.)

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/NEWS0103/307130032

Newport Starbucks boots Dems
BY PATRICK CROWLEY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

NEWPORT -A group of Northern Kentucky Democrats who gathered to talk party politics were given the boot Wednesday night from a Newport Starbucks coffee shop.

According to several people who were at the gathering, two Starbucks employees approached the group while Campbell County Democratic Party Chairman Ken Mullikin was speaking shortly before 6 p.m.

The employees, who were described as stern by some and rude by others, told the 15 to 20 Democrats they had to leave the shop because it would not play host to a political gathering.

Katie Henderson, president of the College Democrats at Northern Kentucky University, said she was “disappointed and upset” because a similar gathering had been held a month earlier....

MORE

[Roland99]

1. They should head south a bit and meet at the big Jillian's in Covington!

;)

[Deja Q]

2. Write down names and quotes. Keep an eye open for other gatherings,

particularly of political nature.

This is the land of lawsuits. And the seeds may have been sewn for one.

[mom cat]

3. They should have been boycotting Starbucks in the first place. Hope

they do so now!

[EVDebs]

29. Coffehouses used to be 'hotbeds of sedition' in the 1700s England

""Why Conversation Cafés? Because when you put strangers, caffeine and ideas in the same room, brilliant things can happen. For that very reason, the British Parliament banned coffeehouses in the 1700s as hotbeds of sedition. Might we brew up a similar social liveliness now? With democracy, critical thinking and “the ties that bind” all under siege, this may be the most radical cup of coffee you ever drink.""

http://thataway.org/resources/understand/models/concafe.html

[mom cat]

45. Wonderful! ... Thanks.

[EVDebs]

46. King James, I believe, called them 'sactuaries of sedition'

...a more catchy phrasing.

[Buns_of_Fire]

47. ...filled with "nattering nabobs of negativism," no doubt

I think James the King and Spiro the Agnew would have gotten along good together! :-)

[mom cat]

48. OOH! I like the sound of that!

[Bonobo]

4. Here's the address/phone number. I love google!

http://www.judysbook.com/members/36120/posts/2006/5/376490/

1405 Grand Ave
Newport, KY, 41071
[phone]

[Rose Siding]

24. Why? They've already been apologized to and welcomed back!

snip>
Kenton County Democratic Party Chairman Kathy Groob, who was at the gathering...Groob said she also received an apology.

“They told us they would welcome us back,” Groob said. “I just hope they deal with the employees who overstepped their bounds.”

[liam_laddie]

34. FWIW, the original post...

sent around to us folks in the OKI area had the location as in Ft. Thomas,
very near the Northern KY Univ. campus, and attendance was 8-10 - this
according to the first report from people who were there. This post is in the
interest of accuracy in media, y'know. I imagine the manager* on shift at the
time will "have a moment" with an area supervisor. *likely a prick rethug...

[liam_laddie]

42. addendum

Leave it to the Enquirer to get the story wrong; in this case, wrong location.
It was Ft. Thomas (a red zone), not Newport (a mixed zone, with a "very diverse"
population.) And Crowley is the N KY beat guy! Wonder what other stories' details
they get wrong....like Bush ISN'T guilty of (...you name it ) ?

[Tempest]

5. I wonder if the outlet can afford to do without the business

15-20 people is a good size chunk of business.

I'd like to hear what the franchise owner has to say about the eviction.

[Union Thug]

6. well, if that's starbucks opinion... Time for all dems to

stop darkening their doorsteps. There are much better independent coffee places...here's plug:


VICTORS CELTIC COFFEE COMPANY, REDMOND, WA

[alfredo]

9. A local Starbucks doesn't have a problem with our

Amnesty International meetings. I can see if our group grows to the point where it interferes with other customers.

[Charlie Brown]

14. this was probably the franchisee's decision

I don't think an entire chain should be boycotted because of the actions of one store.

[w4rma]

19. I think that an entire chain *should* be boycotted

Because the other franchise owners will put their foot down and put a stop to the one franchise owner who is giving all of them a bad name.

**Assuming** that the case is only one franchise owner and isn't a rule from the franchise itself.

Nonetheless it appears that the decision to boot them was made by some minimum wage employee and the Democrats are welcome back:

Kenton County Democratic Party Chairman Kathy Groob, who was at the gathering...Groob said she also received an apology.

“They told us they would welcome us back,” Groob said. “I just hope they deal with the employees who overstepped their bounds.”

[Charlie Brown]

20. the other franchise owners have zero say in what this one does

and the chain cannot dictate to its franchisees what groups to allow/not allow to meet, nor should they.

Boycotting the chain would serve no purpose. Boycotting the store in question would be the solution.

However, it sounds as if this was just a misunderstanding resulting from an employee who went over the manager's head.

[w4rma]

21. They have more power than you think. They all have a say in how the total

franchise is run and they can all band together to force other members of the franchise to adhere to rules or leave the franchise.

Nonetheless it appears that the decision to boot them was made by some minimum wage employee and the Democrats are welcome back:

Kenton County Democratic Party Chairman Kathy Groob, who was at the gathering...Groob said she also received an apology.

“They told us they would welcome us back,” Groob said. “I just hope they deal with the employees who overstepped their bounds.”

[Hailtothechimp]

35. Starbucks has no franchise owners

They don't use the McDonald's model, where a franchisee pays through the nose and then gets to reap the profits. The shareholders own everything, as I understand it.

The only Starbucks voice that matters is Howard Schultz's, anyway.

[pokercat999]

38. It simply could have been the night shift managers

decision. If the place was small and he/she felt they were interfering with the conduct of their business I can understand asking them to leave. I think it was probably a bad decision. I doubt Starbucks intended to provide a meeting place for any organization, however having a dozen paying customers might be something that would interest them. Not enough information here. Often times in business low level managers do dumb things with the best of intentions and their employers interest at heart, too bad they are often wrong.

[DesertRat]

25. Starbucks is a Blue Company

Starbucks Political Donations
$23,800 to Democrats
$0 to Republicans
$0 to Others
$23,800 in Total Contributions

Source: buyblue.org

[Sanity Claws]

7. Now that I've donned my asbestos suit, let me say

that a group of 15-20 should not expect to hold a meeting in a coffee shop without prior arrangement. That size group will probably buy one drink a piece and stay for an hour or two. I don't know the size of that particular shop but some Starbucks don't seat very many people. I wouldn't be surprised if the group had taken up the majority of the space.

[leesa]

10. I agree. I doubt this is political, more a business thing. Now if they

had made an arrangement or if it's a common occurrence for other groups, then it's different.

[theHandpuppet]

12. Then why this?

"The employees, who were described as stern by some and rude by others, told the 15 to 20 Democrats they had to leave the shop because it would not play host to a political gathering. "

[Sanity Claws]

18. The article also said that an apology was later given

Kenton County Democratic Party Chairman Kathy Groob, who was at the gathering...Groob said she also received an apology.

“They told us they would welcome us back,” Groob said. “I just hope they deal with the employees who overstepped their bounds.”


This incident sounds like a tempest in a teapot. Or is that a coffeepot?

[FormerDem06]

44. I don't mean to be rude....

But if I were running a business and I had seating for 40 and 20 folks came in, I'd want to be informed as well. Also, I'd like to know if the meeting was being held in a respectful manner. I'm sure it was, but as a business owner, I wouldn't want one group being loud boistrous or disrespectful to others scaring away business for 2 hours either.

[alfredo]

13. If you need a meeting room, local libraries may have rooms for

such things.

[theHandpuppet]

15. Frankly, if I'm to attend a meeting

I'd prefer a place where I can get a good cup of Joe and a bite. At the library you're lucky if the water fountain is working.

[alfredo]

32. We had our meeting at a local Starbucks tonight.

Ours is big enough to handle our small group with little effect.

[IronLionZion]

8. Yeah no shit

you should ask permission before hosting large meetings of any kind in someone else's establishment. "large" is open to debate but probably around 10 people or so.

[theHandpuppet]

11. Um... did you read the entire article?

"Katie Henderson, president of the College Democrats at Northern Kentucky University, said she was “disappointed and upset” because a similar gathering had been held a month earlier.

"Henderson said she had been given permission by a Starbucks employee to do the same Wednesday night."

[IronLionZion]

16. you need a manager's permission, not just any employee

it's the same for birthday parties and business meetings

[theHandpuppet]

17. Fine. Then the employees need some instruction...

... on how to relay that to their customers in a respectful manner rather than humiliate them in a public scene.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

22. Wallow in the irony.

A couple of repuke low-wage coffee-jerk shock troops.

Dear ghod, there is something terribly wrong in the water down there.

I mean, they even put chocolate in their Chili! ;-)

[rodeodance]

23. hey, thats what we do in coffee shops in Madison WI--talk politics!

[Threedifferentones]

26. Alot of Americans aren't Democrats

alot of Republicans buy coffee at SB. The employees should have been kind about it, but it is bad business for the store to allow a rally like this. Why are so many of absolutely sure they wouldn't have done it to a repub gathering?

[The_Casual_Observer]

37. republicans never have meet ups like this. Nobody attends.

They are always afraid a terrorist will kill them.

[WhiteTara]

27. They should protest to the corporate headquarters

Starbucks doesn't want to lose profits and boycott threats over free speech in their shops.

[lynne]

28. From the perspective of a business -

- I would think that it would be in their best interest to keep clear of hosting any political gatherings for any political party as you're bound to upset at least a portion of your patrons if you do.

[ikojo]

30. We had Kerry meetups at a Starbucks in suburban

St Louis county in 2004..maybe things have changed for the worse.

[AX10]

31. They were paying customers and not bothering other...

customers, so I see no reason for them to "get the boot".

[Riverman]

33. Repugs at Starbucks in Calif

I recently was subjected to a groupd of local repugs - elected and party hacks discussing their campaign plans for John Doolittle who represents Placer County outside Sacramento. Maybe I should have asked the employees to boot them. If I see them - the repugs, again holding a political meeting in the Starbucks I will remind the employees of the apparent official Starbucks policy as carried out in Kentucky.

[intheflow]

36. I've never had a problem talking politics at a Starbucks.

I think this was a personal problem of the employees. :(

[pokercat999]

39. From the article.

“It really feels terrible to be discriminated against in such a public place,” said Kenton County Democratic Party Chairman Kathy Groob, who was at the gathering.

Groob said she also received an apology.

“They told us they would welcome us back,” Groob said. “I just hope they deal with the employees who overstepped their bounds.”


Oh boo hoo, give me a fucking break, thicken your skin and meet at the library. These were probably $6.50 an hour employees, is she going to give them a job when Starbucks lets them go?

[Vinca]

40. At least there's an easy solution for this one: ignore Starbucks. nt

[cantstandbush]

41. Well, I never go to Starbucks anyway, so my boycott is still good. nt

[heliarc]

49. Yep... Don't drink no stinking corporate coffee (n/t)

[warrens]

43. Go to an indie coffee house

Why meet in a Starbucks, anyway? There are plenty of places that would be thrilled to have a monthly meeting of 20 or 30 people. One of my groups uses a local brewpub and they reserve a private room for us when it's available or carve out a few tables for us when it's not.