And just when you thought the company is done surprising people with new things, Starbucks recently announced that they are opening their first “signing store” in Washington D.C.
This store isn’t your ordinary coffee shop around the corner. Its main way of communicating with customers is with sign language.
The company wants to make sure that deaf people have a way to communicate easily at their local coffee shop in D.C.
But what makes this store much more special than any other is that the idea was brought up by a group of deaf employees who work at Starbucks.
The location of the new store is at 6th & H Street by the Gallaudet University.
A number of 20 to 25 people will be able to apply for this position, however, they would have to be deaf, hard of hearing or translators. And if someone is none of the above, they must be able to know sign language fluently.
Rossann Williams, the executive vice president of Starbucks stated that the goal of this new store is “to connect with deaf and hard of hearing community, hire and engage deaf and hard of hearing partners, and continue to find ways to be more inclusive, accessible and welcoming to all.”
This is a wonderful thing that Starbucks is doing to give back to the community and make everyone feel included!
Baristas who are deaf or cannot hear well will be required to wear American Sign Language (ASL) aprons. And workers who are hearing partners will be required to wear a pin that read “I Sign.”
Though this is not the first Signing Store that Starbucks has opened, it will be the first in America. The first ever was opened in Malaysia in 2016.
