Starbucks smoking ban: now in effect outside, too
Starbucks smoking ban, already in force inside its cafes, extends 25 feet outdoors, too, beginning Saturday. Starbucks smoking ban is intended to keep outdoor seating areas smoke-free.
Pedestrians walk past the new Starbucks logo on a store in Times Square in New York in 2011. A Starbucks smoking ban is being expanded to the outdoor seating areas of the company's own 7,000 stores
Lucas Jackson/Reuters/File
NEW YORK
Starbucks customers will soon have to stamp out their cigarettes before approaching the cafes.
The Seattle-based chain says it will start banning smoking within 25 feet of its stores, beginning Saturday, where permitted by its leases.
Starbucks spokeswoman Jaime Lynn Riley says the intent is to expand the indoor no-smoking policy to the outdoor seating areas.
"If there were any concerns, we would hope to resolve it amicably." Riley said, referring to a customer who might be smoking within the restricted area.
The rule will apply to the 7,000 cafes owned and operated by Starbucks Corp., regardless of whether they have outdoor seating areas.
The policy shouldn't cause a big difference in many areas that already ban smoking within a certain distance of a business entrance.