Published: Saturday, June 26, 2010
Starbucks’ test menu includes alcohol
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Associated Press
Customers visit a redesigned Starbucks in New York City in April. Starbucks will be taking separate elements from nearly a dozen locations around the globe, including the site in New York City, when it reopens its biggest idea percolator yet later this spring.
As experiments go, this one isn’t flashy.
But the success — or failure — of one Starbucks cafe on the edge of a trendy Seattle neighborhood could ripple through the nation’s coffee house industry.
Because where Starbucks goes, others follow.
Dubbed “Olive Way,” the store is the biggest percolator yet for ideas that the world’s largest coffee company has been testing separately at nearly a dozen locations around the globe. And what succeeds at Olive Way will most likely be spread to other Starbucks stores around the country.
With muted, earthy colors, an indoor-outdoor fireplace, cushy chairs, and a menu with wine from the Pacific Northwest’s vineyards and beer from local craft brewers, this 2,500-square-foot shop in the Capitol Hill neighborhood will reopen in the fall with espresso machines in the middle.
“It’s going to feel very different,” said Kris Engskov, Starbucks’ regional vice president.
The machines at Olive Way will be part of what executives call a coffee theater. Counters will be narrower — a slim as a foot in some places — to bring customers closer to baristas; the machines will brew one cup at a time to extract deeper flavor from beans.
The store will be the chain’s only location that sells beer and wine in the U.S., though another Seattle test cafe that doesn’t carry the Starbucks brand began selling alcohol last year. The menu at Olive Way will be bigger, full of savory foods that pair with coffee, wine and beer. And customers will be able to customize the offerings, some of which will be freshly made.
The decor is to offer a departure from Starbucks’ sometimes formulaic green-and-tan — with local artists’ work, regionally reclaimed building materials, a community work table and a meeting area set off by a sliding door.
As at any restaurant chain using its stores as real-life laboratories, there’s no guarantee every idea from Olive Way will be successful or be implemented across the company. And the company wouldn’t say how much it’s spending on the effort, or how soon elements from the shop might expand to other locations.
But executives are optimistic that some will find their way to other locations, especially in vibrant urban neighborhoods where the chain can attract affluent customers who may prefer a low-key hangout over a crowded bar.
The pilot shows how hard Starbucks is working reinvigorate its brand, which stumbled under the weight of hyper-paced over-expansion.
But the success — or failure — of one Starbucks cafe on the edge of a trendy Seattle neighborhood could ripple through the nation’s coffee house industry.
Because where Starbucks goes, others follow.
Dubbed “Olive Way,” the store is the biggest percolator yet for ideas that the world’s largest coffee company has been testing separately at nearly a dozen locations around the globe. And what succeeds at Olive Way will most likely be spread to other Starbucks stores around the country.
With muted, earthy colors, an indoor-outdoor fireplace, cushy chairs, and a menu with wine from the Pacific Northwest’s vineyards and beer from local craft brewers, this 2,500-square-foot shop in the Capitol Hill neighborhood will reopen in the fall with espresso machines in the middle.
“It’s going to feel very different,” said Kris Engskov, Starbucks’ regional vice president.
The machines at Olive Way will be part of what executives call a coffee theater. Counters will be narrower — a slim as a foot in some places — to bring customers closer to baristas; the machines will brew one cup at a time to extract deeper flavor from beans.
The store will be the chain’s only location that sells beer and wine in the U.S., though another Seattle test cafe that doesn’t carry the Starbucks brand began selling alcohol last year. The menu at Olive Way will be bigger, full of savory foods that pair with coffee, wine and beer. And customers will be able to customize the offerings, some of which will be freshly made.
The decor is to offer a departure from Starbucks’ sometimes formulaic green-and-tan — with local artists’ work, regionally reclaimed building materials, a community work table and a meeting area set off by a sliding door.
As at any restaurant chain using its stores as real-life laboratories, there’s no guarantee every idea from Olive Way will be successful or be implemented across the company. And the company wouldn’t say how much it’s spending on the effort, or how soon elements from the shop might expand to other locations.
But executives are optimistic that some will find their way to other locations, especially in vibrant urban neighborhoods where the chain can attract affluent customers who may prefer a low-key hangout over a crowded bar.
The pilot shows how hard Starbucks is working reinvigorate its brand, which stumbled under the weight of hyper-paced over-expansion.
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