Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced the company would open a shop in Ferguson, Missouri as a "way to create employment."
Fortune magazine reported that Schultz revealed his plans on stage at an event hosted by NationSwell, a digital media company dedicated to innovation and renewal.
At the event, Schultz spoke about the company's efforts to combat racism.
In March, the company encouraged baristas to start conversations about race with customers by writing "Race Together" on their coffee cups. The campaign was widely criticized, and was soon discontinued by the company.
Beyond that, however, Schultz highlighted the company's efforts to create education benefits for its workers, as well as hire military veterans and youth 16-24 who've not stayed on the traditional education path.
Schultz didn't give a timeline for the Ferguson store's opening, even when questioned after the event. A spokesperson for Starbucks echoed Schultz' sentiments in stating that "part of our plan to build more stores in urban neighborhoods."
Starbucks' inspiration for working on national race issues came in part from the police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson last August and the riots that ensued. Many critics said that instead of the "Race Together" campaign, the company might consider opening its first Starbucks in the St. Louis suburb to create economic opportunity.
Ferguson's population is 70 percent black, and,
according to Quartz, Starbucks stores tend to be concentrated in areas populated primarily by whites. A graph illustrating the publications' findings was widely shared on Twitter in March.
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