DESIGNING THE STORES
Starbucks’ ability to create the ubiquitous “third place” has been largely dependent on the design of their store. While the design of each store is tailored to fit the specific area it is located in, all stores maintain the same overall “feel” and general design.
As Starbucks’s president of design for the Americas said, “What you don’t want is a customer walking into a store in downtown Seattle, walking into a store in the suburbs of Seattle, and then going into a store in San Jose and seeing the same store. So how do you make the world’s largest coffee house feel like a neighborhood haunt? Our answer: good design.”
Around 2008, Starbucks polled its customers about the store design, asking what they liked and what they would change. That was when Starbucks realized that many of their customers believed that the coffee empire was beginning to be synonymous with fast food. While Starbucks wanted to maintain their consistent quality and speed, they also needed to change something to make the experience more authentic.
Starbucks’s current mission is to create “sustainably designed, locally relevant stores that inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.”
A key design concept Professor Shanks explained shows the importance of the users and designers psychology in understanding design. He explains how you can understand design by exploring how people interact with spaces. Starbucks employed an approach that closely follows this concept: they sent their design team all over the country to visit the cities they were designing stores for. In 2008, almost all designers were based in Seattle. Today, there are over 200 designers in 18 design studios all around the world. This allowed the designers to touch and feel the locations they were designing, enabling them to tailor each store its unique, local area. The new, customized stores include unique pieces from local artists, depictions of local city skylines, and models of local attractions. Starbucks has already retouched 20,000 stores to align with their new design mission.
However, Starbucks is being strategic with their renovation decisions. For one of their most mature stores in Seattle, Starbucks removed the focus from their logo and now focuses on the names of the fair trade coffee they were serving. This was meant to remove the “chain” feeling of the store. This was an effective design strategy for the relevant market, but Starbucks has not made similar decisions overseas. Internationally, Starbucks still focuses on their own logo and brand as a way to attract customers through familiarity.
Additionally, Starbucks hopes to use the design and branding of their coffee shops to become an integral part of people’s daily lives. As this article says, Starbucks hopes to be a “third place away from home and work where people like to hang out.” (seattle times)
This company change is reflected in the stores that we looked at for this project. The Starbucks on campus features a wall that shows the history of Starbucks, including when the first Starbucks was opened on Stanford campus. The store also features furniture that is conducive to doing homework and collaborating on projects. The various types of furniture and setups are representative of the way that users would interact with the space. There is one long table in the middle where students can all sit together and study or talk (with plenty of charging outlets). There are a few comfortable, couch-like chairs for students to read or hangout. There are high tables that are designed for people to have meetings or coffee chats. There are also bigger tables against the wall for students to study. By integrating these varying physical layouts of the furniture into their store, this campus Starbucks is able to be a meeting location, a study spot, and a friend hangout. Just by spending five minutes in this store, it is clear that the customers use it for these exact reasons.
In other Starbucks locations, such as the one on University Avenue, there is much less seating/table room. It is clear that the purpose of this store is for people grabbing coffee on the go or for people to hangout and talk. There are plenty of tables outside (but no access to outlets, making it an unrealistic place to study), and very few seating options inside. This is in stark contrast to the Stanford location, where they have accommodated as much indoor seating as possible.
While these two stores have very different physical layouts, they both maintain the classic Starbucks “feel” and environment. The color scheme and checkout table is almost the exact same, and both boast Starbucks various philanthropy initiatives. To stay in line with their brand, the store design puts a large emphasis on their community work. The counter that runs alongside the line often has images and maps explaining the work that they do to promote fair trade and sustainability. At the cashier’s counter, Starbucks often sells bracelets and other items to support organizations like (RED), Ethos, and programs that help create jobs in the US. While most corporations as large as Starbucks struggle to remain truly philanthropic, by physically focusing their store design on community work, Starbucks sustains their socially conscious brand.
On top of supporting sustainable agriculture, Starbucks focuses on sustainability when designing their physical stores. They have launched various initiatives to reduce the impact of each store on the environment, including changes in their construction, landscaping, building methods, materials, lighting, and more. Starbucks measures their changes by using the US Green Building Council’s LEED certification as a benchmark of success. Currently, there are LEED certified Starbucks coffee shops in over 17 countries.
In addition to the physical similarities, Starbucks maintains their consistent feel and environment through their music. As discussed in the technology page of this project, Starbucks has created an online network that features lesser-known artists. They also prominently display a free song of the week and sell CDs at their checkout table. The music played in the stores is music by these lesser-known artists that can double as background music. By promoting less famous artists and bringing awareness to local, culturally appropriate music, Starbucks can maintain their culturally aware brand.
Overall, Starbucks employs various tactics when designing each of their stores. As Professor Shanks explained, it is critically important to understand how the customers will interact with the space and the psychology behind what they expect from the physical space. Starbucks has been able to incorporate the needs of customers and their own goals to create unique, comfortable, consistent and sustainable stores all over the world.
Starbucks’s current mission is to create “sustainably designed, locally relevant stores that inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.”
A key design concept Professor Shanks explained shows the importance of the users and designers psychology in understanding design. He explains how you can understand design by exploring how people interact with spaces. Starbucks employed an approach that closely follows this concept: they sent their design team all over the country to visit the cities they were designing stores for. In 2008, almost all designers were based in Seattle. Today, there are over 200 designers in 18 design studios all around the world. This allowed the designers to touch and feel the locations they were designing, enabling them to tailor each store its unique, local area. The new, customized stores include unique pieces from local artists, depictions of local city skylines, and models of local attractions. Starbucks has already retouched 20,000 stores to align with their new design mission.
However, Starbucks is being strategic with their renovation decisions. For one of their most mature stores in Seattle, Starbucks removed the focus from their logo and now focuses on the names of the fair trade coffee they were serving. This was meant to remove the “chain” feeling of the store. This was an effective design strategy for the relevant market, but Starbucks has not made similar decisions overseas. Internationally, Starbucks still focuses on their own logo and brand as a way to attract customers through familiarity.
Additionally, Starbucks hopes to use the design and branding of their coffee shops to become an integral part of people’s daily lives. As this article says, Starbucks hopes to be a “third place away from home and work where people like to hang out.” (seattle times)
This company change is reflected in the stores that we looked at for this project. The Starbucks on campus features a wall that shows the history of Starbucks, including when the first Starbucks was opened on Stanford campus. The store also features furniture that is conducive to doing homework and collaborating on projects. The various types of furniture and setups are representative of the way that users would interact with the space. There is one long table in the middle where students can all sit together and study or talk (with plenty of charging outlets). There are a few comfortable, couch-like chairs for students to read or hangout. There are high tables that are designed for people to have meetings or coffee chats. There are also bigger tables against the wall for students to study. By integrating these varying physical layouts of the furniture into their store, this campus Starbucks is able to be a meeting location, a study spot, and a friend hangout. Just by spending five minutes in this store, it is clear that the customers use it for these exact reasons.
In other Starbucks locations, such as the one on University Avenue, there is much less seating/table room. It is clear that the purpose of this store is for people grabbing coffee on the go or for people to hangout and talk. There are plenty of tables outside (but no access to outlets, making it an unrealistic place to study), and very few seating options inside. This is in stark contrast to the Stanford location, where they have accommodated as much indoor seating as possible.
While these two stores have very different physical layouts, they both maintain the classic Starbucks “feel” and environment. The color scheme and checkout table is almost the exact same, and both boast Starbucks various philanthropy initiatives. To stay in line with their brand, the store design puts a large emphasis on their community work. The counter that runs alongside the line often has images and maps explaining the work that they do to promote fair trade and sustainability. At the cashier’s counter, Starbucks often sells bracelets and other items to support organizations like (RED), Ethos, and programs that help create jobs in the US. While most corporations as large as Starbucks struggle to remain truly philanthropic, by physically focusing their store design on community work, Starbucks sustains their socially conscious brand.
On top of supporting sustainable agriculture, Starbucks focuses on sustainability when designing their physical stores. They have launched various initiatives to reduce the impact of each store on the environment, including changes in their construction, landscaping, building methods, materials, lighting, and more. Starbucks measures their changes by using the US Green Building Council’s LEED certification as a benchmark of success. Currently, there are LEED certified Starbucks coffee shops in over 17 countries.
In addition to the physical similarities, Starbucks maintains their consistent feel and environment through their music. As discussed in the technology page of this project, Starbucks has created an online network that features lesser-known artists. They also prominently display a free song of the week and sell CDs at their checkout table. The music played in the stores is music by these lesser-known artists that can double as background music. By promoting less famous artists and bringing awareness to local, culturally appropriate music, Starbucks can maintain their culturally aware brand.
Overall, Starbucks employs various tactics when designing each of their stores. As Professor Shanks explained, it is critically important to understand how the customers will interact with the space and the psychology behind what they expect from the physical space. Starbucks has been able to incorporate the needs of customers and their own goals to create unique, comfortable, consistent and sustainable stores all over the world.