Starbucks Plans Huge High-End Roastery Coffee Store On Michigan Avenue
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As part of its new strategy to expand into the craft coffee market, Starbucks is planning a huge premium coffee store, taking over the four-story Crate & Barrel building on the Magnificent Mile.
The Starbucks Reserve Roastery, to be located on Michigan Avenue and Erie Street, will open in 2019. It will be the third such U.S. store, following the flagship store in Seattle, which opened three years ago. A New York City store is expected to open in 2018, the company said.
Starbucks opened its first coffee store in Chicago 30 years ago--the first outside its home base of Seattle.
The Roastery will roast and serve the company's high-end, small batch Reserve coffees, CEO Howard Schultz said in a news release.
The 43,000-square-foot space will also offer multiple brewing methods, specialty Reserve beverages and mixology.
The Seattle roastery is 15,000 square feet with 6,654 square feet devoted to a cafe and tasting room.
The Roastery's menu will also feature food from Italian baker Rocco Princi, prepared on location.
Starbucks also has three smaller Reserve stores in the Chicago area, which also feature the company's high-end coffees.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Starbucks is leasing the building from Crate & Barrel co-founder Gordon Segal. The Northbrook-based company opened the Michigan Avenue store in the 1990s.
"This building has a unique way of becoming a beacon for a brand, and I can't think of a better retailer than Starbucks to offer Chicago something new and exciting with its Reserve Roastery," Segal said in a statement.