By Heather Haddon and Jaewon Kang
Macy's Inc. delayed the reopening of some stores shut by
coronavirus. Apple Inc. stores that had recently unlocked their
doors were boarded back up. Chains from Kroger Co. to Popeyes cut
back their hours. And the CEOs of Starbucks Corp. and McDonald's
Corp. organized companywide discussions of the social unrest that
has disrupted efforts to restart business as pandemic lockdowns
ease.
The widespread protests over the death of George Floyd while in
police custody had chief executives looking for ways to balance
their efforts to run their companies, protect their employees and
property, and articulate a response to their customers, staff and
communities about racism and deep-seated problems in American
society. For many, it followed months of struggles to reopen after
the crippling global pandemic.
"Right when we get over one hump, here comes something new to
deal with, " said Reynolds Cramer, chief executive of Fareway
Stores Inc., a Midwest grocery chain in six states. In addition to
adjusting hours to close early, Fareway told its store managers to
shut down or not open right away in the morning if conditions are
unsafe.
"It is scary. It's frustrating. It's such a terrible thing," Mr.
Cramer said. "You feel terrible for these people who have done
nothing wrong and their businesses are being destroyed."
Macy's postponed the Monday reopening of four stores until later
in the week due to the violence. Over the weekend, 30 Macy's either
closed early or never opened as intended, including those in
Atlanta and Minneapolis. Early closures took place in cities with
curfews to give employees time to get home. In cities where Macy's
stores hadn't reopened yet such as Chicago, rioters broke windows
and looted merchandise, according to a spokeswoman.
In a letter to employees, Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette urged
staffers to look out for one another. "Check on your teams and
fellow colleagues -- both furloughed and nonfurloughed," he wrote.
"Be each other's ally and seek help when you need it."
Apple stores were broken into in several cities, including in
Philadelphia, and the company closed stores Sunday and Monday in a
number of locations, in some cases boarding them up. "With the
health and safety of our teams in mind, we've made the decision to
keep a number of our stores in the U.S. closed today," a spokesman
said.
Some Burger King and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen locations were
damaged during the weekend's protests, and restaurants have closed
early in some areas to protect workers and customers, said Jose
Cil, chief executive of parent company Restaurants Brands
International Inc.
"There is no place for racism in America, and every company,
every public institution and every individual needs to take
accountability for calling it out by name and stopping it," Mr. Cil
said.
McDonald's plans to hold a company town hall meeting Tuesday to
allow U.S. employees to tell executives what the burger giant can
do to foster more racial inclusion and corporate outreach.
"As a company, we have a responsibility to recognize the pain
felt by so many and to fight racism and discrimination in our
communities," McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a message to
the company Sunday evening.
Starbucks held a forum over the weekend for employees to talk
about the death of Mr. Floyd and racially motivated violence, and
2,000 employees participated, CEO Kevin Johnson said in a company
letter. He said the company will continue to hold forums for
workers to share their responses.
The coffee chain said Monday it would further limit employee
hours to match pared-back operations at its U.S. stores, reflecting
expectations that sales won't bounce back from the pandemic until
at least this fall.
"It's hard to find the right words to capture how challenging
the past few days have been," said Brian Cornell, chief executive
of Target Corp., which is based in Minneapolis, where the protests
began. He said in an email interview that he was proud how quickly
the retailer moved to protect employees and customers and was
inspired to see members of the community come out to help clean up
damaged Target stores.
Food retailers have adjusted hours and operations to respond to
the pandemic, implementing capacity limits and new safety measures.
And the recent protests add to the challenge.
"We're trying hard to close the stores that would be impacted
well in advance," said Kevin Holt, chief executive of Ahold
Delhaize USA, which operates more than 2,000 grocery stores across
the country under the Stop & Shop, Giant and Food Lion chains.
"We continue to be heartbroken over this."
A small number of Ahold's stores have been affected directly.
Over the weekend, the grocer closed a handful of locations early to
comply with local curfews. The chain is also reaching out to its
employees through robocalls and other methods to check in.
"In terms of the pandemic, this could also cause a lot more
infection," Mr. Holt said. "We just don't know what tomorrow will
bring. We will have to deal with that as we go through it."
Daniel Halpern, chief executive of Jackmont Hospitality Inc.,
said the restaurant group closed two of its TGI Fridays locations
in Atlanta and Baltimore over the weekend to conform with local
curfews. Coronavirus has hurt sales at the group's airport
restaurants -- nearly all of them remain closed -- and at its 30
TGI Fridays.
"If you look at where the country is today, we as business
leaders have failed. I'm pointing fingers at myself and all
leaders. We have to do a better job" to push for economic and
racial equality, said Mr. Halpern, a Democratic National Committee
board member.
Mr. Halpern, who is Native American, said he doesn't support
violence, but that he sympathizes with those who feel the need to
demonstrate. "Minority-owned businesses are being damaged. Minority
businesses hire people from their communities. But capitalism only
works if everyone has a shot," he said.
The restaurant industry needs to do more to encourage diversity,
including at the top, he said. "We can't fix these institutional
issues with Band-Aids. When I go to restaurant conferences, there
are very few black and brown franchisees, and fewer black and brown
CEOs," he said. "It's not a question if there's qualified people
out there. They aren't in the club."
Jide Zeitlin, the CEO of Tapestry Inc., owner of the Coach and
Kate Spade brands, wrote a letter to his staff to share his
personal experience as one of the few black men to run a major U.S.
company. He also reported that Coach and Kate Spade stores had been
damaged by protesters in cities across the country from Charleston,
S.C., and Washington, D.C., to Scottsdale, Ariz., and Bellevue,
Wash.
"Has our society truly left them with little to lose and few
other ways to force the rest of us to come to the negotiating
table?" he wrote. "We can replace our windows and handbags, but we
cannot bring back George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Eric
Garner, Trayvon Martin, Emmett Till, and too many others."
--Suzanne Kapner and Sarah Nassauer contributed to this
article.
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com and Jaewon
Kang at jaewon.kang@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 01, 2020 18:31 ET (22:31 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.