Starbucks Alcohol

Starbucks is adding wine and cheese to its Streets of Woodfield cafe in Schaumburg, Chicago area.

 

The new offerings have already proven themselves under the “Starbucks Evenings” concept, which was tested in seven Starbucks cafes in the Pacific Northwest – all of which recorded double digit sales increases after 4 p.m. – the official time when the cafes start serving alcohol.

The first city outside the Pacific Northwest to get a glimpse of the concept will be Chicago, with initially a single location to feature the concept, and eventually seven locations at the end of the year, followed by Southern California and Atlanta.

Rachel Antalek, director of new concept development at Starbucks, said that the idea was to create the “no-stress book club” kind of atmosphere in the stores, but without any substantial changes to the stores’ way of operating. Customers will still have to order at the counter, with the only difference of waiters coming at a certain point of time to ask them if they would like something else to drink (from the wine and beer chart, of course), and the introduction of live music and poetry nights.

“This concept is trying to deliver the same atmosphere and the same service that everybody’s grown to love and expect from Starbucks… We’re constantly innovating and trying new things, and this is something our customers have asked us for that in a lot of ways hearkens back to European coffeehouse heritage.” Mrs. Antalek added.

The brand’s new concept won’t be advertised much, though. Sings will be posted outside of stores, and waiters will occasionally make morning customers familiar with the special offerings in the evening period. Awareness of the new concept will be raised through social media, too. Well, obviously, I think I am not the first one blogging about it! Nice buzz created from the other people, nice PR! :) Obviously - why spend money on advertising campaign while u can make others to advertise it for free?