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Sephora closed Wednesday morning for ‘inclusion workshops.’ Sound familiar?

The beauty retail giant closed its stores, distribution centers, call centers, and corporate office Wednesday morning while 16,000 employees undergo an hour-long inclusivity workshop.

The Sephora store at 1714 Chestnut Street June 3, 2019. All stores in the chain will be closing June 5 for company anti-bias training.
The Sephora store at 1714 Chestnut Street June 3, 2019. All stores in the chain will be closing June 5 for company anti-bias training.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

Beauty retail giant Sephora closed its U.S. stores, distribution centers, call centers, and corporate office for an hour Wednesday morning while 16,000 employees took part in an inclusivity workshop.

The training comes after the R&B artist SZA tweeted about discrimination she experienced in a California shop, though a statement from the company said the two weren’t directly related.

Sephora’s workshop cames about a year after Seattle-based coffee chain Starbucks had its employees undergo anti-racial-bias training following the arrests of two black men at a Center City store last April.

What happened?

In May, Sephora said it would close the morning of June 5 “to host inclusion workshops for our employees” in conjunction with its “We Belong to Something Beautiful” campaign.

"These values have always been at the heart of Sephora, and we’re excited to welcome everyone when we reopen," it wrote.

» READ MORE: What a Penn prof says racial-bias training should involve

Why did it host the workshops?

Sephora’s statement said the campaign had been planned for over a year, while the store closures were in development for more than six months.

“This store closure is part of a long journey in our aspiration to create a more inclusive beauty community and workplace, which has included forming employee resource groups, building Social Impact and philanthropic programs, and hosting inclusive mindset training for all supervisors,” Sephora’s statement said.

The company drew ire in late April when Grammy-nominated SZA said an employee called security to “make sure [she] wasn’t stealing” while visiting a store in Calabasas, Calif. The company replied that it took “complaints like this very seriously” and said it was “actively working with our teams to address the situation immediately.”

The company’s statement said the “We Belong to Something Beautiful” campaign was not a result of the artist’s tweet, but “does reinforce why belonging is now more important than ever.”

What did Starbucks’ training look like?

Starbucks closed more than 8,000 U.S. stores for a few hours last May. The training was prompted after a video of Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson being arrested at the chain’s store at 18th and Spruce Streets went viral after they refused to leave.

The training included a discussion about racial bias and discrimination, a questionnaire, and a film by Stanley Nelson, who focuses on black history and experiences.

Starbucks’ efforts to train employees in implicit bias generated a nationwide discussion around the issue.

» ANALYSIS: Blacks stopped at much higher rate indoors in Center City

Malek Young, an employee at a Center City Starbucks at the time of the training, said the sessions went well.

“I do think people are learning,” he said. “And if they aren’t, I am.”

What did Sephora’s hour-long workshop look like?

A spokesperson for the company, based in France with worldwide stores, said it did not have additional details to share about the workshop.

“We’ll be discussing what it means to belong, across many different lenses that include, but are not limited to, gender identity, race and ethnicity, age, abilities, and more,” read Sephora’s statement ahead of the workshops. “This week marks the first step in our journey, and with the goal of ensuring everyone feels welcome in the beauty category, we hope that We Belong to Something Beautiful helps further foster that belief, for the benefit of our clients, for the betterment of the industry and our communities at large.”

While members of the press were not allowed into Starbucks’ racial-bias training last year, it offered a preview of what it planned to share with its nearly 175,000 employees ahead of time.

Does this have anything to do with Starbucks?

It’s not clear. Neither company commented on whether they were in communication with each other when Sephora was developing Wednesday’s workshop. Starbucks said last year that it had intended to share its training material with other businesses.

» READ MORE: Howard Schultz confronted by woman who shared viral Philadelphia Starbucks arrest video at Free Library event

» READ MORE: Starbucks closes stores for anti-racial bias training: Recap