This week, Starbucks' U.S. operations leads Debbie Stroud and Denise Nelson sent a message to employees saying that they had received "a lot" of alarming incident reports from employees of the soon-to-close Starbucks stores, according to The Wall Street Journal. "We cannot serve as partners if we don't first feel safe at work," they said. Employees had filed reports of drug use by customers and non-customers in store bathrooms, spurring the company to allow workers to deny access to bathrooms or otherwise "reduce operations" when concerned about their safety. The shuttered stores include six locations in both Seattle and Los Angeles; two in Portland, Oregon; and one each in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The closures come on the heels of recent remarks made by CEO Howard Schultz about safety. Schultz shared with The New York Times that the chain might "have to harden" its stores by ending its policy allowing anyone, including non-customers, to use Starbucks bathrooms and store spaces.