Starbucks is revolutionizing the coffee game and making it easier for customers to get their beverages in the process. The Seattle-based company is slated to open its first-ever pickup-only location in New York City on Tuesday, November, 5, which will change the way people get their caffeine fixes.
The new locale, which is inside New York’s bustling Penn Plaza, will be a place where customers can retrieve orders they previously placed via the chain’s app. While this outpost, known as Starbucks Pickup, will also have baristas ready to take orders from walk-in customers, ordering through the app is highly encouraged. In fact, those employees will really be on hand to help people download and navigate the Starbucks app, which has seen significant growth in recent years.
CNN Business notes that a variation of Starbucks Pickup already exists in China and is known as Starbucks Now.
Per Kathryn Young, the brand’s vice president of urban markets, Starbucks Pickup was created in response to customers who are looking for “convenience, comfort and connection.” The store, she pointed out, mainly addresses the convenience issue and will strive to be “predictable and effortless” for customers who want seamless beverage or food pickup.
As for what customers can expect from the space? At 1,000 square feet, it’s roughly half the size of a typical Starbucks store and doesn’t feature a large seating area or cases of pastries, salads and more. However, Starbucks Pickup will still sell the company’s full menu of food and drink options, and the location is designed to be brighter and more modern than its older counterparts.
Speaking of modernity, NYC’s Starbucks Pickup will also a feature a digital signage board where customers can check the status of their order.
Though the coffee giant has no current plans to bring the concept to other cities across the United States, Young said the Penn Plaza store will help the company “test and learn” where this concept might flourish next.
Additionally, creating smaller, more efficient stores in highly populated cities like the Big Apple could help the brand avoid the cannibalization curse, when one location takes clients from another outpost nearby. Smaller locales that still deliver the same products also cost less to run.
On the other end of the spectrum, Starbucks made headlines in September 2018 when it opened a massive Reserve Roastery location in Milan, Italy. The 25,500-square-foot storefront specializes in more artisanal beverages, and therefore doesn’t sell Frappuccinos and a handful of other drinks the chain is known for.
