On 30 Sep. ‘22, Starbucks opened its 300th outlet in India at Dehradun, Himachal Pradesh. The company, in a JV with Tata Group entered India in 2012 amidst much fanfare.
“Inspired by the heritage of Dehradun and local architecture, our new addition is rustic yet modern. Keeping the essence of local materials and crafts alive, while allowing for innovation to open new markets, the store has been designed”, said a company executive. “Vision was to create the best 3rd place experience amidst beautiful valleys, celebrating the origins of Starbucks coffee with local materials and crafts”, he said.
Colourful custom tapestry celebrates nature – flowers, animals, flora and fauna of the coffee world. The three animals represent the regions where Starbucks coffee is harvested, namely, the Sumatran Tiger, the Kenyan Elephant and the Quetzal Bird from Guatemala. The animals are hand tufted by traditional craftsmen in wool that is locally souced. Outdoor space is curated for round the year pleasant weather. Inviting and comfortable seating creates intimacy, and are conversation starters right away.
Starbucks also celebrated its 6,000th store in the Chinese mainland, which opened on Sep. 30 at Shanghai Lippo Plaza, where the company opened its first store in Shanghai more than 20 years ago. The new store marks Starbucks 1,000th in Shanghai – making it the first city in the world to pass the milestone. The latest addition to Starbucks growing portfolio of “Greener Stores” also features leading sustainability solutions and digitalized operations. To commemorate the milestone, Starbucks is launching “Shanghai Coffee” in Crema Ristretto style – its first city-themed handcrafted coffee creation in China as a tribute to the city and its coffee lovers.
Beyond its contemporary design, the evolution of Starbucks stores is also reflected in the Shanghai Lippo Plaza Store’s back-of-house operations, where investments in digital technologies have enhanced the partner experience and elevated store efficiency to a whole new level. The use of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and automation tools have dramatically simplified routine stocktaking tasks, enabling partners to focus on coffee craft and customer connection. Big data and machine learning algorithms have also been deployed to optimize inventory ordering and labor scheduling. These technologies have been scaled to all stores in operation market-wide, as the company continues to advance its digital transformation agenda.
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