Starbucks will close 8,000 company-owned cafes in the US on the afternoon of May 29 so that 175,000 employees can undergo racial tolerance training.
It is in response to protests and calls for boycotts after the arrest of two black men who were waiting in a Philadelphia store last week.
The company said it will also provide training materials for non-company workers at 6,000 licensed Starbucks cafes that will remain open in locations such as grocery stores and airports.
The announcement from the world's biggest coffee company comes as it tries to cool tensions after the Philadelphia incident sparked accusations of racial profiling at the chain, which is the subject of a boycott campaign on social media.
The controversy is the biggest public relations test yet for new Starbucks chief executive Kevin Johnson, who already was fighting to boost traffic to Starbucks amid competition from coffee sellers ranging from hipster cafes to fast-food chains and convenience stores.
"While this is not limited to Starbucks, we're committed to being a part of the solution," Mr Johnson said, a former technology executive who took the helm about a year ago.
Even if the threatened boycott does not materialise, the 8,000 temporary store closures will almost certainly have an impact on sales.
Starbucks did not say how many hours the stores would be closed on May 29, but the afternoon is the slowest time for Starbucks' business.
Starbucks is one of the most high-profile and beloved brands in the world. The company touts its diverse workforce, minorities account for 18% of Starbucks executives with the title of senior vice president or higher and 43% of employees overall.
Mr Johnson has apologised for the "reprehensible" arrests of the two men in Philadelphia and took personal responsibility for the incident, which was captured in a customer video that was shared widely.
Starbucks lawyers said Mr Johnson and the men, who were released without charges, have "engaged in constructive discussions about this issue as well as what is happening in communities across the country."
Philadelphia Police late on Tuesday released the series of calls that led to their arrests.
It begins with a Starbucks employee reporting "two gentlemen in my cafe that are refusing to make a purchase or leave." The manager who is believed to have made that call, no longer works for Starbucks.
In a subsequent call, an unidentified man said a "group of males" was "causing a disturbance" that required backup and a supervisor.
Philadelphia's police commissioner over the weekend defended the arrests, saying his officers had to act after Starbucks employees told them the pair were trespassing.
"It's good that Starbucks is giving all staff race trainings on May 29. But let's not lose sight of the real problem which is police accountability," Tiffany Dena Loftin, director of the youth and college division at NAACP, told Reuters.
Shares in Starbucks closed up 0.7% at $59.83 on Tuesday and are relatively unchanged in the week since the arrests.
