Starbucks pilots unbranded neighbourhood cafés serving alcohol

July 2009

Roaster/retail giant Starbucks in late July is to pilot a “neighbourhood café-style” outlet in Seattle that will offer beer and wine, live entertainment and open later at night, local reports said.

The first outlet, 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, is not branded as Starbucks, although it is in a remodelled former Starbucks outlet that was on the company’s list to be closed by the end of the year.

The first of at least three planned in the city, the new cafés will also return to making espresso drinks by hand, a Reuters report quoted Starbucks as saying. They will also be the first Starbucks-owned outlets to sell alcohol, which is not offered in the company’s branded shops.

The new concept aims to give the unbranded cafés “a community personality” according to a Starbucks spokesperson, and the company’s coffee and accessories will be individually re-branded for the local outlet, the reports added.