Sacramento-area Starbucks store closes temporarily after employee gets coronavirus
A popular Starbucks location in Sacramento County has closed after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, the company confirmed Wednesday.
The coffee mega-chain’s Gold River location as of Wednesday morning had signs in its front doors saying it’s temporarily closed but including no further explanation.
“Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience,” the signs read. “We are working to re-open our store as quickly as possible.”
The location, in the Gold River Town Center just off Sunrise Boulevard, closed after a worker there tested positive for COVID-19, Starbucks corporate spokesman Jory Mendes told The Bee in an emailed response Wednesday.
“As soon as we learned of the diagnosis, we quickly activated our protocols and closed the store to initiate a deep cleaning following all recommended guidelines from public health authorities,” Mendes wrote.
Mendes called the diagnosis “recent” but didn’t specify an exact date. The store will reopen this Sunday with its normal business hours, Mendes wrote. The employee who tested positive will be compensated for the time they missed during 14-day self-isolation, in accordance with company policy.
The Gold River spot, which draws praise from customers on Yelp who say it’s often packed, was entirely absent from the Starbucks website’s store locator feature as of Wednesday.
Mendes did not immediately respond to further questions, including why the location was removed from the store locator.
In late July, the Sacramento Business Journal reported on the temporary closures of two Starbucks stores in El Dorado County: one in El Dorado Hills’ town center and the other in Cameron Park.
Starbucks officials told the Business Journal via email that the Coach Lane location in Cameron Park had been “closed as a precaution” for an employee with possible COVID-19 symptoms, but it reopened after there was “not a positive case of COVID-19” detected; the El Dorado Hills store had closed for “minor renovations.” Both reopened on July 22.
This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 1:06 PM.
