This month, Starbucks marks its 22nd year in South Korea with the opening of a new store in Seoul. The store offers an immersive Starbucks Experience for customers with seasonal and core beverages, Starbucks Reserve and Teavana beverages, as well as delicious food choices. Customers can also take their Starbucks Experience to-go with a convenient pick-up area for online orders near the entrance.

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The interior of the store features a spacious coffee seminar area, a cozy fireplace, and a large digital art wall installation that visualizes Starbucks coffee stories. The first digital art wall series includes illustrated scenes from Starbucks coffee farm Hacienda Alsacia, Puerto Rico, by local artist Lee Kyu-tae.

To mark the opening of the new store, Starbucks Reserve stores across Korea will introduce 7 new seasonal beverages including the Shakerato Affogato, Powdered Soybean Black Milk Tea, Byulgung Omija Youthberry Tea and more.

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Beautiful new Starbucks store opens in South Korea : Starbucks Stories Asia

Starbucks Stories Asia

Beautiful new Starbucks store opens in South Korea

This month, Starbucks marks its 22nd year in South Korea with the opening of a new store in Seoul. The store offers an immersive Starbucks Experience for customers with seasonal and core beverages, Starbucks Reserve and Teavana beverages, as well as delicious food choices. Customers can also take their Starbucks Experience to-go with a convenient […]

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Located in Bangkok, the Starbucks Reserve® Chao Phraya Riverfront marks Starbucks 417th store in Thailand, as the company continues to accelerate coffee innovation and growth across Asia Pacific

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The store is home to Thailand’s first Teavana™ Bar and will be the first to serve the Muan Jai™ Blend, sourced in partnership with Northern Thai coffee farming communities

Today, Starbucks celebrates the opening of its largest store in Thailand with Starbucks Reserve® Chao Phraya Riverfront at ICONSIAM, Bangkok. It marks Starbucks 12th Reserve Bar and 417th store in Thailand, reaffirming the company’s commitment to accelerating growth across one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic markets.

The store represents two firsts for Starbucks in Thailand. It is the first store to serve the Muan Jai™ Blend, a bold coffee from Northern Thailand, and also introduces the first Teavana™ Bar for customers seeking a reimagined tea experience.

Offering panoramic views over the iconic Chao Phraya river that flows through Bangkok’s vibrant urban center, the store was designed to create a welcoming Third Place where people can unwind and connect over signature, hand-crafted beverages.

“For 22 years, Starbucks has been elevating coffee craftsmanship and bringing unique experiences to our customers in Thailand. Today marks a significant milestone as we introduce an exciting new store that recognizes our coffee heritage while celebrating Thailand’s rich and diverse culture,” said Sara Trilling, president, Starbucks Asia Pacific.

Celebrating coffee craftsmanship and tea discovery

Customers can now experience the Muan Jai™ Blend with any Starbucks® handcrafted espresso beverages, as well as choose from a range of Starbucks® signature beverages and premium Starbucks Reserve® coffees that change throughout the year and can be enjoyed in a variety of brewing methods. The store also features extensive food menu, including artisanal pastries freshly baked in-store and Starbucks® signature desserts served with ice cream. 

At the Teavana™ Bar, customers can immerse themselves in a hands-on tea experience, exploring different flavors and high-quality tea varieties through beverages including the Lychee Earl Grey Tea and Peach Mojito.

Honoring Starbucks commitment to Thai coffee communities

Starbucks is dedicated to partnering with farmers across Asia Pacific to bring the region’s high-quality coffees to the world ethically and sustainably. Starbucks developed Muan&nbsp;Jai™ Blend, which means “wholehearted happiness”, in collaboration with farmers in Northern Thailand where it has been sourcing coffee in partnership with local farming communities since 2003.

Starbucks Reserve® Chao Phraya Riverfront will be the first store in Thailand to serve the distinctive blend, which was previously only available to customers as packaged whole bean coffee. In addition to giving a proportion of proceeds from Muan&nbsp;Jai™ Blend packaged coffee back to the community, for every cup of Muan Jai™ coffee served in-store, Starbucks will donate 10 baht to Northern Thai farming communities. 

“Thailand has a rich history of coffee production and we’re proud to have shared our passion for coffee with our customers, partners and communities since first opening our doors herein 1998,” said Nednapa Srisamai, managing director, Starbucks Coffee Thailand. “The store is a fantastic showcase of craftsmanship and underscores our commitment to nurturing moments of connection over a cup of coffee. We look forward to sharing the Starbucks Experience with our customers at this breathtaking new location.”

Bringing the coffee experience to life through local design

Inspired by its rich riverside setting and history, the store was designed to bring the coffee experience to life for customers while celebrating local Thai culture. Located atop of ICONSIAM one of Bangkok’s premier lifestyle destinations, the 1,260 square meter store features distinct artwork and design pieces created in partnership with local artisans.

As guests arrive, they are greeted by a colorful mural that depicts Thai coffee farming landscapes and Bangkok’s familiar landmarks. Taking design cues from the Chao Phraya river, flowing terrazzo flooring guides customers to a range of intimate coffee experiences.

As the centerpiece of the store, the Starbucks Reserve® bar features a wood-carved mural that pays homage to the traditional art of Thai wood carving, depicting rural scenes and coffee craftsmanship. Here customers can experience an expansive range of Starbucks Reserve® coffees, while appreciating artwork that celebrates local coffee-growing communities and their stories. At the main bar, customers can enjoy Starbucks® signature beverages, including the Muan Jai™ Blend, or choose from a selection of Teavana™ teas.

Customers are invited to ascend a feature staircase, inspired by the flavor wheel Starbucks uses to qualify its unique Starbucks Reserve® coffees, to explore the mezzanine floor above. The staircase features a coffee tree from Northern Thailand at the center and transforms into a compass, guiding customers on a bean-to-cup coffee journey that celebrates global coffee culture and Starbucks heritage. On the mezzanine floor, Starbucks Baristas guide customers through the different tastes and aromas of Starbucks Reserve®&nbsp;coffees, with a colorful artwork depicting the flavor wheel acting as a perfect backdrop.

The mezzanine ceiling features beautifully crafted lanterns in a nod to Bangkok’s Loy Krathong festival, while stadium seating mirrors the river’s contours, offering spectacular views over the city. Customers can also wind down on the outdoor terrace while enjoying panoramic views of the river.

Starbucks unveils its largest store in Thailand with new Starbucks Reserve® at ICONSIAM : Starbucks Stories Asia

Starbucks unveils its largest store in Thailand with new Starbucks Reserve® at ICONSIAM

New store will be the first to serve the Muan Jai™ Blend, sourced in partnership with Northern Thai coffee farming communities.

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Showcasing Starbucks leadership in retail innovation by connecting customers with 100 years of modern Chinese history and reimagining the Third Place.

Tianjin, China – Today, Starbucks unveiled its flagship Reserve store in Tianjin, China. Located in Riverside 66, a Renaissance-style building constructed in 1921, this flagship store reimagines a nearly century-old heritage building to create an inspiring Third Place experience where history is brought to life and enriched with Starbucks coffeehouse culture.

“Over the past 20 years in China, Starbucks has constantly pushed to innovate and reimagine the Third Place experience, to bring people and communities closer together,” said Leo Tsoi, senior vice president, chief operating officer and president, Starbucks China - Retail. “We are immensely proud and privileged to preserve a revered piece of history that binds together four generations of Tianjin residents, and to share this rich cultural inheritance with more people, passing it on to future generations.” 

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The Starbucks Reserve Riverside 66 Tianjin flagship store demonstrates Starbucks leadership in retail innovation and sets new standards in store concept and design by combining deep history with an entirely modern third-place experience for customers. For the first time in Tianjin, it features Starbucks Bar Mixato and Starbucks Teavana™ Bar, on top of its Starbucks Reserve offerings that reflect the company’s commitment to elevate and deliver an exceptional in-store experience while creating distinct, new Starbucks occasions in China. 

Rejuvenating a Historical Icon

Located in Tianjin’s leading commercial street, the building holds a special place in the hearts of local residents as an iconic city landmark that was a witness to key eras in modern Chinese history. Designed by Shen Liyuan, who was among the first pioneers of Chinese architects to study overseas, it housed the Zhejiang Xinye Bank till the early 1950s, and was a symbol of the city’s economic prosperity and development. In the 1980s, the early days of China’s economic transformation, it reopened as the high end Yongzheng Tailor Shop before becoming the Xinye Foreign Trade Mall. The location was officially designated as a city heritage site in 1997 and has been left vacant for the past two decades – a cultural gem waiting to rediscover its glorious past.

Driven by the passion and responsibility to revive this rich cultural heritage, Starbucks took on an unprecedented challenge to preserve the building’s original architecture and to restore the landmark to its full splendor, while infusing modern, creative elements that complement and give new life to the space. Working in collaboration with local historic preservation experts, it took three years of relentless effort by passionate Starbucks partners to navigate technical complexities and realize the vision for this ambitious project.

Customers can now admire up close the exquisite craftsmanship and grandeur of a bygone era, which include a majestic Greek style exterior façade and aesthetically breathtaking interior decorations, most notably a glass dome, imported marble columns and marble carvings. The original bank counters have also been fully preserved, allowing customers a peek into what a bank from a century ago looked and felt like. Meanwhile, creative use of bronze tubes ensured that no nail had to be struck into the columns when lighting was installed. Lighting and air conditioning systems were also ingeniously embedded into the glass dome.

“Beyond preserving the century old architecture in its fullest form, the Starbucks flagship store has also made creative use of its unique features,” said Mr. Luo Shuwei, famous historian and senior researcher from the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences. “Starbucks partners have shown great passion and dedication to ensure that every design detail is in harmony with the original architectural style, to create a warm and welcoming ambience that is also filled with history.” &nbsp;

A reimagined coffee and tea experience comes to Tianjin

The flagship store is also where Tianjin’s cultural legacy meets Starbucks coffeehouse culture, in a powerful blend that elevates the third place experience to new heights. Customers can not only feel the richness of history, but also savor the world’s best coffees and experience the human connection imbued in coffee culture.

At the center of the main hall is a U-shaped Reserve Bar, where well-trained, certified Starbucks baristas expertly craft Starbucks Reserve coffees using different brew methods and equipment, such as the Siphon, V60 and Black Eagle. Customers may taste the extraordinary flavors of some of the world’s rarest, most exalted and most sought-after small-lot coffees – selected from more than 250,000 cups evaluated by Starbucks team of expert tasters every year, and roasted with meticulous care in the Shanghai Roastery. Often coming from remote and rugged places, with limited harvests from lots as small as a family backyard, each Starbucks Reserve coffee has its own story to tell, with different factors like soil, temperature, elevation, and the amount of rainfall and sunshine making each coffee unique.

The flagship store also features Tianjin’s first Bar Mixato and Starbucks® Teavana™ Bar. The premium Teavana™ Bar reimagines a modern tea experience, while demonstrating deep respect for thousands of years of tea tradition. It features beverages crafted using extraordinary ingredients in ingenious ways – customers may enjoy nitrogen infused teas, and the visual intrigue of the Steampunk brewing system, along with quality, brilliant tea leaves, blends and botanicals. A tea room is located at the far end of the bar, where customers may have a cup of Starbucks® Teavana™ tea while appreciating a tea inspired painting, a combination of tea and art to delight all senses.

Meanwhile, the store’s Bar Mixato offers over 30 options of Starbucks Reserve® cocktails, wines, and craft beers. Apart from popular pre-dinner and classic cocktails, the bar also features signature cocktails that creatively blend Starbucks® coffee and tea flavors, artfully mixed by Starbucks trained and certified bartenders. Paired delightfully with exquisite food offerings, they present a novel Starbucks third-place experience beyond customers’ imagination.

Starbucks Preserves Heritage Site in China to Open Flagship Location in Tianjin : Starbucks Stories Asia

Starbucks Preserves Heritage Site in China to Open Flagship Location in Tianjin

Located in Riverside 66, a Renaissance-style building constructed in 1921, this flagship store reimagines a nearly century-old heritage building to create an inspiring Third Place experience.

https://stories.starbucks.com/asia/stories/2019/starbucks-preserves-heritage-site-in-china-to-open-flagship-location-in-tianjin/