When Starbucks opened its <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2017/hidden-history-at-starbucks-pike-place-market-store/">first store in Pike Place Market in 1971,</a> it didn’t serve lattes. But it soon became a hub of connection, a place to sample a cup of Sumatra coffee or learn about beans from Latin America. In 1987, Starbucks expanded into a European café model with added seating and espresso beverages. Customers lingered in stores, even if they had no one to meet for the simple experience of being met with a friendly face and taking a moment to pause in the day. There wasn’t really a term for what was happening until a few years later, in 1989, when sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third place,” describing a place beyond home and work where people could gather, relax and talk.

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Fast forward 35 years, and as the world has evolved, so has the Third Place. Starbucks stores are serving more people each day than ever, with customers often ordering on their phones instead of at the counter. The menu has grown from just a handful of drinks to dozens, with stores built for mostly hot beverages straining to meet the demand for more customized drinks and cold beverages. And food is an increasingly important part of the mix – what was once a case of mostly breakfast pastries case is now a food platform that includes warmed sandwiches, available all day long.

As Starbucks is <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/reinventing-starbucks/">reinventing the company,</a> it is also reimagining the Third Place – keeping coffee and connection at the center.

“Today we find ourselves at another unique moment; a moment that challenges us to reinvent and think differently,” said John Culver, group president, North America and chief operating officer. “Our partners have come to expect more from us. Our customers have come to expect more from us.&nbsp; And it is clear our physical stores must modernize to meet this moment.”

Culver and Brady Brewer, Starbucks executive vice president and chief marketing officer, shared an inside look at the company’s plans for the evolution of the Third Place at the company’s 2022 Investor Day conference on Tuesday in Seattle.

“When we think about our existing store portfolio and our investments, they must deliver in a few critical areas,” Culver said. “Reducing the level of complexity and making work easier for our partners, enabling stronger engagement and connection between our partners and the customers they serve, and delivering experiential convenience, in a way only Starbucks can.”

Purpose-built store design

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In July, chief executive officer <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/a-message-from-howard-schultz-the-next-chapter-of-starbucks-reinvention/">Howard Schultz announced five strategic shifts</a> Starbucks will make as part of its Reinvention plan to adapt to the changing needs of customers and store partners. As an example, while customers used to primarily order hot beverages, now that’s shifted to cold year-round. In the summer, nearly 80 percent of the drinks ordered are cold. And, requests for customizations have risen dramatically in recent years with two in three drinks now being customized by adding more espresso shots, flavors and customers increasingly choosing plant-based milks or cold foam.&nbsp;

One of the strategic shifts Schultz announced is to “reimagine our store experience for greater connection, ease and a planet positive impact.” Starbucks purpose-built store design approach will help modernizing physical stores to serve the increasing demand while creating an environment that is inclusive and accessible, through the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/starbucks-greener-stores-accelerate-global-movement-towards-a-more-sustainable-future/">lens of sustainability</a>. To help drive innovation, Starbucks has turned to the team of R&amp;D experts and baristas working side-by-side in Starbucks Tryer Center, to help streamline the work behind the counter, and enable more time for genuine human connection.

Next year, Starbucks will invest an incremental $450 million in North America, including modernization of existing stores through new equipment that enables greater efficiency and reduced complexity for store partners.&nbsp;The company also plans to add 2,000 net new stores in the U.S. by 2025, diversifying the portfolio of stores across cafes, pick up stores, drive thru-only, and delivery-only locations to meet Starbucks customers whenever and wherever they want.

Brewer added, “As we drive even more demand ahead, we are enabling our stores to handle even more capacity, while significantly reducing the effort required from our partners, so that we can enable partners to focus on what they love doing – crafting the world’s best coffee and connecting with customers.”

Starbucks is reimagining the coffee experience with breakthrough beverage innovation that is elevating coffee craft and quality. Whether the coffee is hot or cold – Starbucks is turning to proprietary, patented technology invented in-house, like the new Clover Vertica™, which offers every customer a freshly brewed cup of coffee in just 30 seconds.

“Coffee is at the center of who we are and remains on the forefront of anticipating what customers love and our partners are proud to deliver,” Brewer said.

Elevating experiential convenience

The Third Place has never been defined solely by a physical space, it’s also the feeling of warmth, connection, a sense of belonging Starbucks. Digital technology is helping augment and extend that feeling of connection with customers – whether they are in Starbucks stores, in their cars, on their doorsteps.&nbsp;

One way Starbucks is doing this is through Mobile Order on the Starbucks app. Starbucks is enhancing Mobile Order to make it easier for customers to order, anticipate when their order will be ready, and make it easier and more efficient for partners to serve mobile order customers, eliminating some of the stress at peak times. Mobile ordering is also being extended to more licensed locations at airports and grocery stores.

The company also unveiled Starbucks Odyssey, a new experience powered by Web3 technology that will foster connection and unlock access to new experiential benefits and immersive coffee experiences for Starbucks® Rewards members and partners in the U.S. Starbucks is one of the first companies to integrate Web3 technology with an industry-leading loyalty program at scale, while creating a community online that will enable new ways for Starbucks to engage with its members and its partners. As of Monday, customers and partners are now able to join the <a href="http://waitlist.starbucks.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">waitlist</a> for a chance to be among the first to receive access to the Starbucks Odyssey experience, which will launch later this year.&nbsp;

“We have a heritage of continuously adapting how we serve customers, anticipating where they are going and innovating to take them there,” said Brewer. “Connection is who Starbucks has always been.”

During Starbucks Investor Day, company leaders shared how Starbucks is modernizing its stores and extending its Third Place connection beyond its walls.

Reimagining the Third Place: How Starbucks is evolving its store experience

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

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By Brady Brewer, chief marketing officer, and Adam Brotman, advisor

While the “Third Place” has often been described in physical terms — a place between home and work — the essence of the Third Place has always been the feeling of connection and belonging it provides.&nbsp;But in the hyper digital era that we live in, the community connection that Starbucks has always created is equally powerful as we extend the Third Place Connection wherever customers experience Starbucks.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Emerging technologies associated with what is commonly called “Web3” now enable this aspiration in a way that extends who Starbucks has always been at our core.&nbsp;Web3 refers to many things in the blockchain space, but the particular technology that has captured our imagination is NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

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Many people see NFTs as a new form of ownership of digital art, often traded in a highly speculative way.&nbsp;While that’s been true on some level in the early days in the space, we are fascinated by how NFTs allow people to own a programmable, brandable digital asset, that also doubles as an access pass.&nbsp;&nbsp;

We believe NFTs have broad potential to create an expanded, shared-ownership model for loyalty, the offering of unique experiences, community building, storytelling, and customer engagement.&nbsp;And, while doing so also being a source of accretive business that can benefit a number of stakeholders in the process, while creating a new type of digital ecosystem to complement Starbucks current digital platform offering.

We plan to create a series of branded NFT collections, the ownership of which initiates community membership, and allows for access to exclusive experiences and perks. The themes of these collections will be born of Starbucks artistic expressions, both heritage and newly created, as well as through world-class collaborations with other innovators and like-minded brands.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Over our 50-year history, we have amassed a treasure trove of assets that we can bring to bear in such an ecosystem –&nbsp;such as our rich heritage of coffee art and storytelling, our nearly 27 million active Rewards members in the U.S., a long line of store designs and Starbucks card art, and other fun ways to bring digital communities and experiences to life in the digital realm.

Starbucks also has a history of taking leading edge technology, innovating and making it accessible and approachable for mainstream audiences. Our history with loyalty, mobile payment, mobile ordering and Wi-Fi has taught us how to engage customers at scale to unlock opportunities.&nbsp;Here too, a Starbucks Digital Community Web3 platform has the potential to pioneer the combination of an approachable, widely accessible front-end, backed by the right blockchain technologies that are fast and inexpensive.&nbsp;

Our approach to blockchain technology – while ultimately likely to be multi-chain or chain agnostic – will certainly start with collections backed by blockchains and infrastructure that is consistent with our multi-decade commitment to sustainability.

We plan to take a phased approach here, willing to move fast, experiment, learn and collaborate.&nbsp;We plan to start with our first NFT collection, membership and community later this year, based on coffee art and storytelling. It will come with a host of unique experiences and benefits, worthy of a genesis NFT collection from Starbucks.&nbsp;And this first collection will form the core digital community and backbone against which we hope to build future collections and collaborations – all building on the same new ecosystem.&nbsp;

Starbucks plan to create a series of branded NFT collections, the ownership of which initiates community membership, and allows for access to exclusive experiences and perks.

Starbucks: We're creating the digital Third Place

Starbucks: We&#8217;re creating the digital Third Place

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Starbucks: We’re creating the digital Third Place

A letter to Starbucks partners from Kevin Johnson, Starbucks ceo and president

For nearly 50 years, Starbucks has inspired and nurtured the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time. We are purpose-driven and demonstrate our values each day as we work to create a warm and welcoming experience for customers in our stores.

With a historic U.S. election upon us, I am reminded that it is our shared Mission and Values that unite us at Starbucks with over 400,000 partners around the world proudly wearing the green apron representing all perspectives, genders, races, religions and personal political views.

It is the moments of connection we have with one another and our customers in our stores that define the Starbucks Experience. And, as many will look to Starbucks as a place of familiarity and respite in the days ahead, I want to share with you a few things top of mind for me.

First, we will remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring our stores provide that <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2018/use-of-the-third-place-policy/">warm and welcoming Third Place</a>, free of disruptive, intolerant and discriminatory behavior, and encourage us all to demonstrate respect for another’s differences, experiences and emotions with kindness and support. We will focus on the safety of our partners and customers above all else.

Second, building on our long legacy of encouraging our partners to <a href="https://www.fuelourdemocracy.com/">use their voice and vote</a>, we have joined Civic Alliance as well as hundreds of companies this year to advocate for a <a href="https://www.civicalliance.com/100">safe and accessible election</a>. Every voice will be heard, and I have great confidence in the integrity of our election process.

Finally, this election is certainly an important one and will likely require patience as all votes are counted. The results may not be known overnight. If this is the case, I encourage you to trust in the process and be patient.

For tomorrow, after your ballot is in, make a French Press of your favorite coffee and sip slowly – knowing the election process will work and it may take some time. Regardless of the outcome, or how long it will take to get there, one thing is certain: We will continue to live up to our values and stand united to leave a positive imprint on the communities we serve.

Thank you for continuing to uplift one another and those you serve. You are ALL the heartbeat of Starbucks. I am proud to be your partner.

Letter from the ceo: Thoughts ahead of the 2020 U.S. election - Starbucks Stories

Letter from the ceo: Thoughts ahead of the 2020 U.S. election

Starbucks ceo Kevin Johnson reflects on the shared Mission and Values that unite more than 400,000 partners around the world proudly wearing the green apron, representing all perspectives, genders, races, religions and personal political views.

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Every day at Starbucks we set out to be a different kind of company that champions Our Mission and Values rooted in providing a third place that is welcoming to everyone. To live out this principle, we strive to create opportunity for all by elevating equity, diversity and inclusion in everything we do – to benefit our partners, our customers and the communities we serve. Through ongoing community partnerships, feedback from our partners and customers, and counsel from civil rights leaders, Starbucks will continue our journey to be a place where everyone is welcome. 

Here are some of our latest updates on these efforts since we released the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2019/starbucks-overview-of-the-covington-assessment-on-civil-rights-equity-diversity-and-inclusion/">Civil Rights Assessment</a> in January 2019:

We are committed to advancing this work as we aspire to live our Mission and Values and create an even more inclusive, diverse and equitable company where everyone is welcome.

To learn more, visit: <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/equity-inclusion/">https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/equity-inclusion/</a>

At Starbucks we set out to be a different kind of company and provide a welcoming third place for everyone. Here are the latest updates on our efforts.

An update on Starbucks ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts - Starbucks Stories

An update on Starbucks ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts

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Third place

Third place - Starbucks Stories

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