Starbucks announced today that in addition to debuting a high-end store and coffee-filled “Tasting Room” this December in Seattle, it will also open its first “Express” store somewhere in Manhattan in 2015. The coffee giant didn’t disclose too many details, but did indicate its Express food and drink menus would be “concentrated,” and that the prototype would make full use of “digital payment and mobile ordering to speed up service.”
It’s thought that the speedier and more abbreviated operating format will allow the chain to set up shop in much smaller retail spaces than its traditional cafés, with all their comfy seating areas and those ever-convenient bathrooms. Today’s announcement was coupled with the news that Starbucks plans to opens 3,000 new stores over the next two years, so between all this and the roll-out of mobile Frappuccino units, it’s a good possibility that there will not only be a Starbucks on every corner by 2020, but also plenty of Pumpkin Spice Lattes in the actual street, too.
Related: You’re Not Imagining It: Starbucks Is Literally Following You
[Reuters]
