Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ: SBUX) today unveiled Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago, which opens its doors to the public on Friday, November 15. Located on North Michigan Avenue and Erie Street on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, the opening of Chicago Reserve Roastery marks Starbucks sixth global Roastery and third location in the U.S. Starbucks largest-ever immersive coffee experience – across five floors and 35,000 square feet of retail space – celebrates the company’s heritage and is a tribute to the roasting and the craft of coffee. Visitors will be able to see, hear and learn about coffee’s extraordinary journey through intentional and unparalleled design, while enjoying a menu featuring unique beverages exclusive to this location. The Chicago Roastery joins locations in Seattle, Shanghai, Milan, New York and Tokyo.
“Over the past five years, we have created the ultimate immersive experience around all-things-coffee in spectacular Starbucks Reserve Roasteries in flagship cities around the world. This week we are delighted to open our doors on the sixth global Roastery in an iconic building located on Chicago’s renowned Magnificent Mile”, said Kevin Johnson, Starbucks ceo. “These Roasteries amplify the Starbucks brand, serve as innovation hubs, and create experiences for millions of customers around the world.”
Starbucks has a rich history with the Windy City, dating back to 1987 when the company opened its first store outside of the Pacific Northwest and had a total of 11 retail stores and served as the foundation for the company’s national growth strategy. Nearly 32 years later, there are 796 company-operated stores in the region where Starbucks employs more than 18,100 partners (employees). The Roastery employs nearly 200 people, including roasters, baristas, commessas, bakers, and mixologists.
“The design of the Chicago Roastery was inspired by the iconic Chicago landmark, and the city itself,” said Jill Enomoto, vice president of Roastery Design & Concept for Starbucks. “We embraced the building’s natural light, married it with shades of classic Starbucks greens and intentionally wove in design features to encourage customer exploration and highlight the love and respect we have for coffee.”
The Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago is a working coffee roastery where Starbucks Roasters will be small-batch roasting Starbucks rarest single-origin coffees and blends called Starbucks Reserve. The coffee roasted in Chicago will be served exclusively to visitors of the location, available in handcrafted beverages as well as freshly scooped whole bean coffee.
