Bruce Horovitz

USA TODAY

Starbucks is reviewing its strict rule of no visible tattoos for its employees.

Not only is it taking a second look at tattoos, it's going over its entire dress code, says spokesman Zack Hutson. The company expects to announce a dress code update within the next few weeks, he says.

The chain, with 300,000 employees worldwide and about 120,000 in the U.S., is taking "a fresh look at how we create a more meaningful and relevant work experience for our partners," Hutson says in an e-mail. The new dress code would start in the U.S. and go global "as appropriate by market."

The tattoo ban has been the target of a recent online petition on the website Coworker.org. That petition has gained 21,000 signatures — including 12,000 Starbucks employees — since it was started Aug. 20 by Kristie Williams, a Starbucks barista in Atlanta. It also has spawned plenty of social media buzz.

But Hutson says the dress code review began earlier this summer before that petition. In July, a Starbucks barista in Troy, Mich., caused a media stir when she went public after her boss told her that she had to have a small tattoo on her thumb removed. The social media reaction was not to Starbucks' liking.

Image and cultural nuances matter for Starbucks. Widely regarded as one of the most tech- and Millennial-savvy retailers, it hardly wants to alienate a crucial base of 20-something customers, suppliers and potential employees. The company has taken relatively liberal stands on all sorts of controversial issues — from gay marriage to gun bans.

One employee — who has had to hide her tattoos while working at Starbucks for years — says she hopes she won't have to hide them much longer.

"Starbucks is an amazing place to work," says Rochelle Rabold, who works as a barista supervisor at a Starbucks in Cedar Park, Texas, near Austin. "It would be even more amazing if I didn't have to cover my tattoos," including a large one of colorful flowers on her forearm.

Even in the hottest Texas weather, she says, she must wear a long-sleeve shirt under her Starbucks shirt, to conceal the tattoo. "It would be awesome for Starbucks to change its policy and accept me for who I am," says Rabold, who is also a real estate agent.

Williams started the petition because she, too, was tired of concealing the tattoo on her arm. She says that she loves being a barista, but, "The day I buy my first short-sleeved Starbucks shirt will definitely be a great day."

Rabold has one more hope for the new dress code: "I'm also hoping they'll let us wear jeans."