Inside Starbucks’ ‘coffeehouse of the future’: Its redesign to save the company
CNN
Over the last few years, Starbucks pulled out 30,000 comfortable seats, installed hard wooden stools, blocked electrical outlets and turned stores into takeout counters for customers picking up orders off its mobile app.
Over the last few years, Starbucks pulled out 30,000 comfortable seats, installed hard wooden stools, blocked electrical outlets and turned stores into takeout counters for customers picking up orders off its mobile app. The changes backfired and customers left for local coffee shops and other chains and brewed more coffee at home. Now Starbucks is trying to win back customers looking to sit down for a cup of coffee by renovating 1,000 stores — 10% of its company-owned US locations—with comfy chairs, couches, tables and power outlets in the next year. The company aims to make changes to all of its US stores within the next three years for an undisclosed price tag. “It’s creating comfortable seating where people want to come in. It’s not just the quick grab and go concept,” Mike Grams, Starbucks’ chief operating officer, said in an interview with CNN last week at one of the first remodeled stores in Bridgehampton, New York. “Maybe over past years, we lost our way a little bit on that.” The company is beginning its remodel push in the Hamptons, the posh vacation retreat where Bon Jovi, Jennifer Lopez, Alec Baldwin and other celebrities own homes. Starbucks redesigned four stores in the Hamptons and plans to remodel New York City locations next quarter. Starbucks’ “coffeehouse of the future” is not revolutionary, but the Bridgehampton renovation made the store feel modern. The design was minimalist, with a mix of light and dark-brown wood tones, dark-green walls and soft lighting. Plants and bowls of coffee beans were placed around the store. The espresso bar was opened up, and the menu board went digital.
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