Imagine it’s Monday morning and after you shlep yourself out of bed, you meander over to Starbucks on your way to work. To your utter surprise, and sheer delight, there’s no days-long line stretching down the block and around the corner. This won’t be a fantasy for much longer, friends. On Friday, the coffee conglomerate announced a new express store format as well as a new Starbucks Roastery and Tasting Room.
By implementing an express style store allows Starbucks some flexibility and dexterity in catering to its perpetually growing customer base. These stores will offer a reduced menu, mobile selection options, and digital payment solutions easily accessible for people constantly on the go.
The Starbucks Roastery and Tasting Room is expected to open in company’s flagship city of Seattle by December to increase access to its specialty, Reserve coffees. The move is intended to bolster Starbucks’ Reserve coffee line from 800 to 1,500 locations worldwide by the end of FY 2015. And they hope to open 100 of these niche tasting rooms to promote the exotic brews specifically within the next five years.
“Everything we have created and learned about coffee has led us to this moment,” said Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, in a statement. “The Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting room is a multi-sensory experience that will transform the future of specialty coffee. We plan to take this super premium experience to cities around the world, elevating the Starbucks experience not only through these stores but across our entire business.”
Starbucks describes the Roastery and Tasting Room setting as “a first-of-its-kind union for Starbucks of coffee theatre and manufacturing.”
The Reserve line of coffee boasts a roster with some 27 different coffees from around the world. Ranging from Colombia and Mexico to West Java and Isla Flores.
This expansion of coffees mirrors Starbucks’ recent international expansion over the past few years, beginning with Tokyo, Japan in 2011 and amounting to 21 other countries by the end of FY 2014.
So I put it to you, Boston. Is opting for a specialty coffee in lieu of your beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte worth the shorter wait time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
