Yahoo Finance Starbucks' new 'espresso sized' store
Starbucks (SBUX) thinks going small is going to be huge.
The coffee company is pilot testing mini store formats, with its first-ever express shop located at 14 Wall Street. The 538 square-foot location, about a quarter the size of an average Starbucks, features a slimmed down menu.
Starbucks employees will greet customers at the door and take orders via a hand held device. “This new express format store will be one of the most streamlined experiences,” the company said in a statement.
The store’s design, which includes horizontal wood paneling, a digital menu board and laser-etched artwork, is notably distinct from other Starbucks locations. Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli thinks this store is positioned to do well.
“It is in an old classic financial district building,” he says. “There are forever people milling about taking pictures, with tourists all over the place. I have been at this intersection saying ‘I wish there were a Starbucks here.’”
Starbucks plans to open four more express stores in New York by the end of the year. “They're going for the ubiquity,” Santoli adds. “They have enough stores…and they're filling in with these smaller ones.”
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The move to express coffee shops is not a big leap for Starbucks, as drive-thru locations account for nearly 40% of Starbucks stores in the U.S. Yahoo Columnist Rick Newman notes that people don't necessarily want to sit down for a long time and have a "Starbucks experience."
"Starbucks is a brand, it is a commodity that people are willing to pay for," he says. "You see Starbucks coffee in the grocery store and it's not like people say 'I'm not going to buy this Starbucks coffee because I'm not getting the Starbucks experience.' Sometimes you just want the coffee."
