Starbucks’ future looks a lot like its past.
The coffee shop chain recently unveiled its redesigned store in Bridgehampton, New York, among the first in a planned remodel of up to 1,000 locations in the next year.
The remodeled location is designed to bring the company back to its initial intent, as a shop where consumers can spend some time with friends, classmates or business associates or just get some work done.
The remodeled shop features more comfortable seating.
It features cozier seating, including sofas and plush chairs and quiet corners, along with plants, a bookshelf and décor that give the shop a homier feel.
There are also more premium touches, such as glassware and ceramics, menus that reflect a coffeehouse experience, and numerous power outlets (“Too many to count,” a spokeswoman said).
(Check out our report on Starbucks’ revival plans.)
The shop is designed to get people to stick around.
The shop includes an updated espresso bar. And it doesn’t ignore mobile order customers, with new risers and shelves to make it easier for such customers to grab their orders.
Still, the new shop is a stark shift from the direction Starbucks had been going in recent years.
Starbucks was founded as a community gathering place, where customers could listen to music and read while enjoying a latte or an espresso. But in recent years it has shifted dramatically toward drive-thru and mobile orders, particularly since the pandemic.
The remodeled shop is the first of about 1,000 to be spruced up over the next year.
The chain removed 30,000 seats from its restaurants. It also replaced some stores with seating with locations dedicated only for takeout customers.
That move made sense. Takeout has helped Starbucks grow into the world’s second-largest restaurant chain. And many of its fast-growing competitors are drive-thru-only concepts like Dutch Bros, 7 Brew and Scooters that don’t have indoor seating at all.
But there is plenty of evidence that the company went too far. For instance, in many instances Starbucks didn’t replace broken power outlets during remodels, instead covering them up. Outlets are vital for in-store customers who frequently need their phones or laptops recharged.
Mobile orders can also pile up without any sort of governor, which can lead to backups that drive some customers away.
Starbucks was designed as a community gathering spot.
That conflict between what Starbucks was and what it had become has been a focus for years.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, brought in to fix the chain amid one of the worst sales periods in its history, wants to shift its focus back to its roots as a coffee shop people want to spend time in.
At a gathering of the chain’s top baristas in Las Vegas last month, Niccol said such a move was not just important for the company. Citing statistics that half of U.S. adults feel lonely, he said there is a vital need for more community connection.
“The world needs Starbucks,” he said.
That shift requires the company to rethink its coffee shops. Starbucks took some early steps by bringing back self-serve creamer bars and name-writing on cups. But executives have argued they need to update the look of its shops to bring more seats back and make the store more inviting.
The remodel features menus that give it a coffeehouse feel.
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