Starbucks is aiming to expand its brand with upscale coffee houses that feature expensive brands, libraries, eateries, and more.
Get ready for some upscale Starbucks stores featuring the rarest brews you’ll find anywhere in the world.
Beginning in the mega coffee chain’s home city of Seattle, Starbucks will open a line of upscale stores. It will start with a giant location in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of the city, according to the Washington Post.
Known as the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room, it is hoping to do for coffee what other establishments have done for wine and beer. The company hopes to extend to 100 of the high-end stores selling Starbucks limited reserve coffee eventually.
The store has two coffee bars, a restaurant, a coffee factory, a library and a theater. In it, Starbucks will roast 1 million pounds of its special Reserve coffee line, while also provide a large location where customers can mill about, enjoy tastings, eat food, and even enjoy a book.
Liz Muller, vice president of creative and global design for Starbucks, said in the report that the intent is to create an area that “will heighten all the senses.”
Starbucks won’t feature it’s familiar green and white mermaid logo at the stores. They will include upscale furnishings and sell only expensive types of coffee — although not all will have their own roastery. Stores are also planned for Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.
It’s part of a raft of changes on the part of the company, which is trying to expand its brand and its already massive reach. During Starbucks’ biennial conference recently, the company announced it would start allowing orders via smartphones before even walking into the store, allowing regulars to get their fix ordered and ready by the time they arrive. There will even be a delivery service beginning next year, at least in some areas.
Also, beer and wine could soon be on the menu for some of its stores within five years. The company’s chairman, Howard Schultz, said it was the beginning of the “next generation of Starbucks.”
Leave a Reply