Starbucks 'Concept Shop' Aims To Bring Local Vibe To Amsterdam Shop [PHOTO]

Starbucks, the coffee giant that for many is synonymous with mass production, is trying just a little bit harder to be like your neighborhood coffee shop.

On Friday, the Seattle-based company will open its first "concept shop," a European laboratory in Amsterdam. The store will feature "local" flavor where the company will test new coffee, design and food ideas for the European market.

No, local flavor doesn't mean your cookies come spiked with hashish, as is typical for Dutch "coffee shops." But they will come from the store's own in-house bakery, which will tweet when the baked goods emerge fresh from the oven.

The new concept store is the latest in a series of moves by Starbucks to reclaim its yuppie clientele. After riding the wave of globalization and standardization for years -- Starbucks now has 17,000 retail stores in 55 countries -- the company is trying to milk the popularity of local and sustainable businesses.

The new store is in a old bank vault in Amsterdam's historic Rembrandt square and was transformed with the help of of 35 local artists, who added "design" touches like coating one wall with recycled bicycle tubes. “I was inspired... by the role 17th century Dutch traders played in bringing coffee to the world," said Liz Muller, Starbucks' Concept Design Director, in the press release.

The new location isn't Starbucks' first attempt rebranding its stores -- in 2009, Starbucks tested three Seattle "concept shops," which the company named after the neighborhoods in which the shops were located, instead of calling them "Starbucks." Late last year, the coffee giant built a "sustainable" store in Seattle using old shipping containers. It has also opened a "locally relevant" concept store in the Middle East.

The chain is also experimenting with new food and beverage products. In November, Starbucks announced it had bought Evolution Fresh, a juice company and would be opening new juicebars. By the end of 2012, a handful of Chicago Starbucks will also offer beer and wine at their locations.

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Comments

[Dan Thilman]

11:06 AM on 03/11/2012

'The new store is in A old bank' ??
REALLY....

[Monique Jiselle]

02:04 PM on 03/09/2012

I like entering a Starbucks and expecting a particular standard. Yes, a standard of customer care, a standard of aroma, flavor, and environment. Take your chances with a local shop that does not know the difference in taste, acidity, roast, and fair trade or anything related to coffee and you end up with something that tastes worst than cough syrup. I will enjoy a paper cup of Starbucks any day and if the paper cup really bothers me that much I'll take my own mug. People, you know who you are, find something real to complain about. I think the concept is a step in the right direction and so what if they make a little money or a lot of money for that matter. If not Starbucks implementing the concept, then some other company that may not take the time to research and attempt to get it right.

[Morena]

10:24 PM on 03/10/2012

You may wanna take your own advice. Geesh!

[Monique Jiselle]

04:02 PM on 03/12/2012

You know who you are! Ha ha ha!

[chiGrkBoy]

11:49 AM on 03/08/2012

I'm not a fan of Starbucks, but I don't knock those that are.

Their coffee doesn't taste very good, and I notice most of their cliente really just wants high-calorie sweetened flavored hot milk.

I like coffee shops that give me coffee in a porcelain cup as opposed to a paper cup, and use a quality roast like illy, Lavazza, Intelligenstia, or their own house blend.

Call me a snob, but I love those European style spots over the "grab it and go" spots like Starbucks. I wish them luck in this endeavor, but I think the secret when they do this is to break away from the "processed" vibe Starbucks has become.

[PALEOLOGOS DRAGASH]

10:46 AM on 03/08/2012

Local vibe?

I dare not think what kind of coffee would be served in Pakistani or Saudi Starbucks. Probably something like kill-the-infidel coffee or stone-the-adulterer latte. And I suspect the specialty-du-jour in the West Bank Starbucks would be a Messiah-was-here chai (sans whipped cream)

[monique rn]

10:42 AM on 03/08/2012

Looks like a neat place to hang out.

[Jackalheadedgod]

10:31 AM on 03/08/2012

We had a Starbucks cart where I worked in Saudi Arabia. To make it socially relevant they removed it and put the muezzin on the PA.

Cheers,
Jack

[Kritikos]

09:31 AM on 03/08/2012

Quark's Bar.

[nixrox04]

09:17 AM on 03/08/2012

Its about "perceived value". How else could they charge $5.00 to have someone hand you a paper cup of coffee?

[Gudrun]

10:10 AM on 03/08/2012

I started making my espresso at home, much cheaper!

[thewirah]

08:55 AM on 03/08/2012

Those Concept Shops are just wolves in sheep clothing. At the end of the day, it's still America trying to shove its McFood culture down the throat of every country on Earth.

[Tsvi1]

09:34 AM on 03/08/2012

Consumers don't buy what they don't want.

[thewirah]

09:56 AM on 03/08/2012

Consumers will buy anything with an effective marketing plan.

[Conscious Objector]

08:53 AM on 03/08/2012

SO OLD. Seriously, Starbucks in Seattle has already done this several times.

[Charlotte Bonnie]

08:52 AM on 03/08/2012

Looks good and "localised" enough but I still prefer those "real" local small cozy coffee shops.
I do prefer searching for interesting small food/drink places on internet and trying them out. I'll only get Starbucks coffee if I'm in a hurry to get somewhere and need coffee.

[Gudrun]

10:11 AM on 03/08/2012

We have Starbucks in our town, but also tons of locally-owned shops. I think Starbucks really has helped to raise the standard of these small businesses.

[Doreen1960]

07:52 AM on 03/08/2012

I like it

[johnjohn4321]

07:26 AM on 03/08/2012

Maybe they should try to make a cup of joe that doesn't taste burnt.

[Robert SF]

07:11 AM on 03/08/2012

Starbucks is pretty sterile and corporate, but I live in a city full of local coffeeshops, and let me tell you, I'd rather a Starbucks with its predictable experience than a local coffeeshop picked at random. The problem with most of them is that they're filthy, their coffee isn't that good, and they're run by people with no sense of business nor love of coffee.

[frank day]

07:55 AM on 03/08/2012

How does that differ from Starbucks? Or maybe the ones in SF are better than here in the

Midwest?

[Tsvi1]

09:37 AM on 03/08/2012

Its really different. As he said, Starbucks and Second Cup and the like are sterile, there is no real atmosphere. However, they do know how to run a business, they do have the international connections for coffee beans at the source, they do have a standardized and regulated way of doing things.
That can't really be denied, but you can find much better coffee places if you are looking, and you can also find far worse.

[blind melon scayf]

06:07 AM on 03/08/2012

ahhh. . . there are still heights of polysyllabic nomenclature to be reached.