Starbucks staff report harassment by homeless at Auckland's Queen St store

Police have intervened in two incidents at the Auckland CBD, Queen St, Starbucks. Photo / Jason Oxenham.

Baristas and servers working at Starbucks' Auckland CBD store say they are harassed by homeless people everyday with police forced to intervene in two incidents in recent months.

Staff at the US coffee empire's Queen St franchise say homeless people often refuse to leave the premises, are abusive, and steal branded merchandise.

One server at the midtown Auckland store said he has already called police about a disturbance involving a rough sleeper in the month that he has been working there.

"They kept coming in, so we called the police," one worker said.

"We called the police because they don't go out when we ask them to go out.

"Every day, today it happened, some of them were sleeping outside. They are normally drunken or they've had a drug."

Stand-in manager for the store, Ivy Sy, said the police frequently were contacted.

"Yeah we do, and we have security guards outside. Sometimes we just call security," Sy said.

"It's an issue. The merchandise is also stolen, lots of times, not only by the homeless, because it's a big store."

Auckland Police confirmed they have attended two incidents at the store in recent months - located on the corner of Queen St and Victoria St.

At 8.30am on September 7, police responded to a report of staff being verbally abused and escorted two men from the premises.

Police had also attended another incident there recently but could not provide details.

Starbucks spokesperson Kylie Grader said they could not confirm any specific incidents of harassment at the Queen St store they were aware of.

"We have processes in place for partners who feel unsafe or uncomfortable inside or around our stores," Grader said.

"When local leadership is made aware of any situation, we act to address it immediately."

Auckland Council's on-call duty compliance team said they have not received any calls about disturbances at the Queens St store.

Council community empowerment manager Christine Olsen said when they are made aware of issues concerning the homeless they always try to assist, but pointed out the "primary responsibility" for supporting rough sleepers lay with the Ministry for Social Development.

"Where Auckland Council is aware of people sleeping rough, staff work closely with specialist support agencies. The primary concern is always the well-being of the people involved," Olsen said.

Starbucks on the corner of Queen St and Victoria St in Aucklands CBD, has ongoing issues with homeless people harassing staff. 10 November 2018. New Zealand Herald Photograph by Jason Oxenham.

Just last week, Housing Minister Phil Twyford said homelessness across New Zealand is the worst it has been in years, with all major measures showed homelessness had increased in 2018.

According to official figures, 2585 people were also placed into transitional housing during the September quarter, up from 1663 at the same time last year.

Compounding the issue, in September this year the Auckland City Mission relocated from it's historical Hobson St base, so that the 19th Century building could undergo a $90 million redevelopment.

Around 400 homeless people have the Hobson St site listed as their official address.