Starbucks Expands Reserve Coffee Line With New Seattle Location - Bloomberg

Starbucks Expands Reserve Coffee Line With New Seattle Location - Bloomberg: "Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) is opening a store in Seattle that combines a cafe with a coffee bean roastery as the chain boosts production of its Reserve line of premium coffee.

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room is a 15,000-square-foot facility that will serve Reserve coffee, which is sourced in small batches and sells for more than $20 a pound. The store, which opens today, will let Starbucks double its small-batch roasting capacity and expand the Reserve coffee presence to 1,500 locations from 800 worldwide.

The world’s biggest coffee-shop operator is experimenting with new store formats, including smaller express stores in New York City and a three-story cafe in Bogota. Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz has said Starbucks is seeking to emulate the retail environments offered by Apple Inc. and Nike Inc.

The Seattle facility provides a blueprint for other major urban markets, Troy Alstead, the company’s chief operating officer, said in an interview."



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