Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX) will be opening its biggest ever location on Wednesday in Shanghai, China.
The world’s biggest Starbucks location will be 30,000 square feet and will be a Starbucks Reserve Roastery, the second of its kind after the location in Seattle. Starbucks Roastery represents the company’s new upscale coffeehouses in large cities.
The reason behind China being the location pinned for this build is simple enough. China is Starbucks’ growing at an unrivaled pace – there is a new store opening every 15 hours! Across 136 cities in China, Starbucks has over 3,000 stores, 600 of which are in Shanghai alone. That’s the largest number of stores in any city with Starbucks present.
What makes a Starbucks Roastery different? Well, the Roastery in Shanghai will have three wood-carved coffee bars showcasing multiple brewing methods; there will be specially-crafted tea served at a 3D printed tea bar; and who could forget the freshly baked Italian artisanal food, these ones by acclaimed baker Rocco Princi.
In addition, for the first time ever, there will be unique, small-lot Reserve coffee sourced from over 30 countries around the world (including China’s own Yunnan Province) that will get roasted on the spot by eight highly trained Chinese coffee roasters.
The Shanghai Roastery will be the first Starbucks in China with a Teavana Bar, offering Teavana signature pure teas or blends, served hot or cold.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Shanghai Roastery will also get a taste of augmented reality. Customers will be able to point their mobile devices anywhere in the building for a Starbucks AR.
In honour of its opening, the Starbucks Foundation and Starbucks China will be donating to charity, over the course of the next five years, $20 million (132 million yuan) to drive social impact in communities across China.
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