Starbucks said it’s rolling out a revamped look across its US chain of 16,300-plus locations with a purpose to make the coffee-ordering experience more accessible and “inclusive”.
Washington DC’s Union Market Starbucks debuted the brand new design on Friday, and it includes power-operated doors and a latest point-of-sale system that’s portable and boasts an adjustable angle stand, voice assist, screen magnification and photos of menu items.
“Imagine any individual who doesn’t speak English as a primary language, and also you’re attempting to ensure that that you simply’re getting [the order] right and providing great service. You’ll have a possibility through some visual cues to make those confirmations,” Starbucks North America Sara Trilling told CNBC.
Countertops are also lower with overhangs, making them more accessible for wheelchair users or customers with service dogs — a part of what Starbucks calls its Inclusive Spaces Framework.
Starbucks announced that its rolling out a more inclusive and accessible design across its US portfolio of 16,300-plus stores. The revamped look debuted on the java giant’s Washington DC location, in Union Market, on Friday. Starbucks
The more-accessible design includes countertops with overhangs, which Starbucks said will higher accommodate customers with wheelchairs or service dogs. Starbucks
Starbucks also made the behind-the-counter experience more accommodating for staffers with disabilities with its latest Clover Vertica system for brewing drip coffee, which boasts a bigger dial and protruding buttons, plus lights that indicate when the coffee is completed.
And when orders are ready, it should be displayed on a big status board at the tip of the bar to offer a visible cue.
Starbucks has also optimized acoustics in its latest design for patrons which might be hard of hearing by utilizing materials that “reduce unwanted background noise and reverberation that may interfere with assistive devices like hearing aids,” based on a press release.
Latest, softer lighting features will even minimize glare, shadows and backlighting that could make it tougher to see.
As well as, floor plans will probably be entirely barrier-free with open sightlines.
The brand new Clover Vertica system is a more inclusive coffee machine, with large dials, protruding buttons and lights that indicate when coffee is completed brewing. Starbucks
Starbucks plans for its entire US chain — including the greater than 600 latest stores it plans to open this 12 months — to follow the identical footprint.
Trilling insisted to CNBC that constructing a more accessible customer experience won’t be dearer than the Seattle-based java giant’s current design.
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“I give it some thought as something that’s going to assist us when it comes to customer connection. It’s going to assist us when it comes to worker engagement,” she said.
A spokesperson for Starbucks told The Post that the Inclusive Spaces Framework will even “help us expand independence, alternative and ease for all people across physical and digital spaces.”
Starbucks’ latest floor plans will probably be barrier-free, may have softer lighting and can boast materials that reduce background noise — a profit to customers with hearing aids. Starbucks
The chain has also recently announced a latest addition to its menu: olive oil-infused Oleato beverages, which began rolling out nationwide on Jan. 30.
The specialty drinks are infused with Partanna extra virgin olive oil — a combo that has sparked reports of some unlucky stomach issues.
“Half the team tried it yesterday and just a few ended up … Needing to make use of the restroom, if ya know what I mean … I’m truthfully scared to try it because I have already got stomach/bowel problems,” wrote a supposed Starbucks barista after the drinks’ launch in a subreddit thread titled “Olive oil drinks.”
The road includes the Oleato caffe latte, made with its blonde espresso roast infused with extra virgin olive oil steamed with oat milk; the Oleato ice shaken espresso, with notes of hazelnut, espresso, oat milk and olive oil; and a chilly brew variety made with extra virgin olive oil, milk foam and cold brew.
