Starbucks is usually synonymous with frou-frou coffee that has a penchant for thinking big. The coffee giant has literally redefined caffeine culture and is a testament to global expansion.
But the company is now going in the opposite direction by thinking small when it comes to new store designs. Its first location, under this new concept, will open up in Denver. And among its adjectives: tiny, portable and local. Starbucks warns customers not to plan on heading down with a laptop, in the hopes of grabbing a seat and checking out the new design.
The store is reportedly drive-thru and walk-up only… part of the company’s new business model.
Writer Mark Wilson recently reviewed the new Starbucks concept on FastCoDesign.com. He reports that the building was constructed in a factory and delivered from a truck, but its facade is “clad in gorgeous old Wyoming snow fencing”.
The new stores feature LEED-certified designs. And one power-saving measure for Starbucks will come from not having to feed electricity to laptops/wifi all day.
Wilson goes on to write that the core of each of these new, small Starbucks locations will be a prefabricated, modular set of rooms.
He says they are a mere 500 square feet, which is just enough space to squeeze in three to five employees — along with all the coffee making machines necessary to execute a full Starbucks menu.
