"It's 2 p.m. on a Monday, and the Starbucks on 23rd Street and Park Avenue in New York City's Flatiron neighborhood is packed. Not that it would take much. The small shop-roughly 265 square feet of front-of-house space-is big enough for a short line to form before it would bust through the door and out onto the sidewalk. This location is the company's very first "espresso bar" format store-a new, small-store design that will serve as the cornerstone of Starbucks's future expansion plans."
"It's also a symbol of a Starbucks in flux. Until recently, the store was for mobile orders and pickup-only; then in September, it reopened after a speedy "uplift" (Starbucks speak for a small-scale renovation) in a new "espresso bar" format complete with seats. Starbuck's leadership hopes the design will help propel the coffee chain into a cozier, more profitable era. When I visited, the store was indeed cozier than the average New York City Starbucks, which can often feel industrial and cave-like."
"A cushy green leather banquette spanned one wall with enough room to fit three laptop-sized round tables. Two seating nooks with built-in desks and stools looked out onto the street. All told, about 10 butts could sit down comfortably in the space. But that's 10 more butts than before-and butts in seats is the reason Starbucks renovated the space in the first place."
"The espresso bar format is part of CEO Brian Niccol's " Back to Starbucks" plan, which reimagines Starbucks as a coffee shop you might actually want to spend time in. In the grand scheme of things, Niccol would still like to more than double Starbucks's global footprint, and expand the brand to more than 100,000 locations worldwide. And he's said the small, espresso bar format would be key in this growth."
Starbucks opened a 265-square-foot Flatiron espresso bar that serves as the company's first small-store design for expansion. The location previously handled mobile orders and pickup-only, then reopened after a small 'uplift' renovation to add seating and cozy fixtures. The new layout includes a green leather banquette, laptop-sized round tables, and seating nooks with built-in desks, accommodating about ten customers. The seating increase aims to convert mobile-focused locations into places customers will spend time, boosting sales. CEO Brian Niccol's 'Back to Starbucks' plan emphasizes the espresso bar format as key to expanding the global footprint toward 100,000 locations.
Read at Fast Company
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