Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson Walks Back Starbucks Boycott Remarks Amid Business Backlash

Seattle’s new socialist mayor is dialing back her anti-Starbucks rhetoric as anxiety grows over whether progressive politics are pushing major employers out of the Emerald City.

Katie Wilson told The New York Times this week that her earlier calls to boycott Starbucks ultimately “caused more harm than good.”

“Those comments were not productive in the sense that they caused more harm than good,” Wilson said.

The reversal marks a sharp change in tone from last fall, when Wilson joined striking Starbucks workers outside the company’s former Reserve Roastery on Seattle’s Capitol Hill shortly after winning the mayoral race.

“I am not buying Starbucks and you should not either,” Wilson declared at the rally, according to KUOW.

At the time, unionized Starbucks employees in Seattle and other cities were walking off the job amid tense contract negotiations with the company.

But Wilson’s boycott push has returned to the spotlight as business leaders increasingly warn that Seattle’s political climate may be driving employers, investors and high earners elsewhere.

The concerns intensified after Starbucks announced plans for a new 2,000-employee corporate hub in Nashville — a move many viewed as symbolic of a broader corporate migration toward lower-tax, business-friendly states.

Though Starbucks continues to maintain its global headquarters in Seattle, critics say the Nashville expansion has become a flashing warning sign for the city’s economic future.

Seattle City Council member Rob Saka told the Times he was “gravely concerned” about what the shift could mean.

“This is real,” Saka warned.

The anxiety around Seattle’s economic direction has also drawn criticism from former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who blasted the city’s leadership earlier this month in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

“Seattle’s mayor, Katie Wilson, has chosen to cast business as a foil rather than a partner,” Schultz wrote. “Her socialist rhetoric vilifies employers, even while she continues to rely on them for revenue.”

More over at The New York Post:

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson walks back stinging comments about Starbucks, as fears mount that the coffee giant may pull out of the liberal city https://t.co/EMBlCEdLpj pic.twitter.com/6BJaxTAbQQ

— New York Post (@nypost) May 20, 2026