Starbucks to nearly double store count by 2021; two new formats in works

12/7/2016

Starbucks Corp. unveiled an ambitious five-year strategy that calls for major expansion, includes two new store formats, including freestanding bakeries.



The coffee giant said it plans to plans to open approximately 12,000 new stores globally by 2021, including 5,000 cafes in China. The new round of expansion would bring Starbucks’s total store portfolio to approximately 37,000 locations.



Starbucks’ expansion plans include a new high-end store concept, called Starbucks Reserve, which will sell premium coffees. The format, under the direction of the company’s new Siren Retail organization, will integrate the theatre and romance of Starbucks Reserve Roastery, a brand immersive 15,000-sq.-ft. coffee emporium in Seattle, in a smaller footprint, with culinary offerings from the chain’s recently announced Italian food partner, Princi.



The first Reserve stores will open in Seattle and Chicago in the second half of fiscal 2017, with plans to open 1,000 or more globally over time. Also, elements of the Roastery experience will be added to 20% of Starbucks’ core existing and new locations by 20121. (Starbucks also plans to open more Roastery locations, with outposts in Shanghai in 2017, Tokyo and New York City in 2018, and a fifth location in Europe to be announced early next year.)



In addition, Starbucks plans to open freestanding bakeries under the Princi banner, in Seattle, New York City and Chicago in late 2017 and early 2018.



“I’ve traveled the world and I’ve been exposed to great food and great culinary experiences,” said company CEO Howard Schultz in a video presentation on Wednesday during the company’s investor day presentation. “Of all the great culinary experiences I have had, there are none that come close to what Rocco Princi has done.”



As previously announced, Schultz will step down as Starbucks’ chief executive on April 3, 2017, passing the baton to company president and COO Kevin Johnson.



Schultz, who will assume the role of executive chairman, stressed at the presentation that he is not leaving Starbucks, and that he plans to focus on the growth and development of the higher-end Reserve Roasteries format.


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