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Starbucks opens a store in Saudi Arabia to deny entry to women

Published: 2026-01-18 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/01/18, Starbucks said that because Saudi Arabia requires business premises to provide different entrances and exits for families and singles, the branch does not have a gender wall, so it complies with local laws and customs. The store can only serve male customers, which is helpless, not discriminating against women. And now they are actively retrofitting the branch so that single men, women and families can

Starbucks said that because Saudi Arabia's law stipulates that business premises must provide different entrances and exits for families and singles, the store can only entertain male customers in accordance with local laws and customs because there is no gender wall. It is helpless and does not discriminate against women. Now they are also actively remodeling the branch to allow single men, women and families to enter the cafe on separate sides.

However, the French boycott of Starbucks does not seem to be slowing down by this clarification. Osez Le Féminisme, a French nonprofit campaigning for women's rights, is still campaigning against Starbucks on Facebook, which has been shared 20000 times so far

Clarence Rodriguez, a French journalist based in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, tried to clarify for Starbucks on Facebook. He said he had checked Starbucks 'official website and that they did not refuse women access to coffee shops, just because Saudi Arabia is a gender-differentiated society, so the boundaries between men and women must be clearly drawn in public places.

The incident began with an Arab Twitter post that was shared thousands of times and created the hashtag #StarbucksIsForMenOnly. Even the French media Le Monde and the fashion magazine Belle reported on the incident, which made things worse and worse.