This article originally appeared on PSFK.com.
A couple of weeks ago, there was a lot of buzz generated by the news that Starbucks was looking to explore new store layouts and designs and even considering dropping the brand name from certain locations. The plan is to create new environments that will try to re-explore the spirit of a traditional coffeehouse including the sale of wine and beer plus playing host to live music and poetry readings.
Last Friday, the Seattle based corporation opened 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea - the first of these 'stealth stores'. Our PSFK spy got herself down to the cafe "inspired by Starbucks" and snapped some of these photos on her phone.
The look is vastly different from the the brand's standard. 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea has a rustic but modern mix of wood and tin plus a celebration of coffee beans and tea leaves. Espressos will be made using a manual machine. If you didn't know it was Starbucks, you'd think you found a hidden neighborhood gem. And once you know it is Starbucks you have to give the brand a lot of kudos for giving their cafe experience a much needed jolt of caffeine.
Click here to see an exclusive image gallery of the store.
...To read more articles by Piers Fawkes, visit PSFK.com.
anybody tried Mcdonalds iced coffee>?? -- they're great.
Make your own coffee at home!
Everything they do is dishonest.
It's OK, if you're really jonesing for coffee and can't get a decent cup anywhere else. Otherwise, it's franchise that seeks to muscle out truly independent local coffeehouses of quality.
Then, you'll stand there for 5-6 minutes while ten other people whiz through the line and get immediate service. In the meantime, they have forgotten you are standing over there in the corner waiting for your lousy cup of coffee. Starbucks hates decaf drinkers. They are a waste of time for the purveyor of 'the worlds greatest coffees.'
Yes, that's Starbucks. And it sux.
If they want to introduce a new approach to branding and style for certain shops, why not? People will choose it or shun it based on whether it meets their needs, same as ever (except for haters who will shun anything that doesn't pass their ever-fluid litmus tests). Thousands of corporations operate multiple chains under a variety of brand names, each aimed at slightly different market segments. Does anyone complain that Macaroni Grill and Friday's are part of the same parent company? Scion and Lexus? Dasani and Sprite? JC Penney and Eckerd Drugs?
I think that's a big plus in their favor.
ad in The New York Times finally addressing those "pastries" that look like they have been in their
stores since 1980's. They talked about how they have new pastries - they don't.
And by the way they look exactly the same - like stuff that has been in those cases for years.
And now they want to bring "poetry" readings - they can't be serious. They don't get it on any
level - not on Design, not on Quality, not on "the experience" thing. And by the way, if you ask
for a cup - and actually cup - the people go into major confusion - searching all over the place
and finally finding that one lone cup - that no one would ever want to drink out of.
They need a complete total make-over - on every level.