Starbucks
Starbucks' Reserve Roastery in Milan is one of only three shops of its kind.
- Starbucks just opened its first-ever store in Italy. It's one of only three Reserve Roasteries in the world.
- The Roasteries are seen as more upscale than the typical Starbucks location. Starbucks has plans to open several additional Roasteries over the next two years.
- The Milan Reserve Roastery has unique features like a Scolari coffee roaster manufactured just miles outside of Milan, an Arriviamo bar serving more than 100 cocktails, and an affogato station where ice cream is made to order using liquid nitrogen.
Starbucks just opened its first-ever store in Italy, and it's unlike any other Starbucks in the world.
The Starbucks in Milan is one of three Reserve Roasteries in the world, along with the new locations in Shanghai and Seattle. Starbucks plans to open additional Roasteries in New York later this year, and in Tokyo and Chicago in 2019.
The Roasteries are seen as more upscale than the typical Starbucks location. Customers typically spend four times more in the company's Reserve Roastery locations than in a traditional Starbucks, according to a company spokesperson.
Starbucks' first Italian location is largely inspired by Milan itself. It uses bright colors to celebrate Milan's history of fashion and design, and it uses bronze and marble elements to blend in with Milan's architecture. The Roastery also features a Scolari coffee roaster manufactured just miles outside of Milan, and has unique features like a Arriviamo bar serving over 100 cocktails and an affogato station where ice cream is made to order using liquid nitrogen.
Though this is Starbucks' first store in Italy, the brand has long been informed by Italian coffee culture. Starbucks' former longtime CEO and chairman, Howard Schultz, has said he was inspired to develop Starbucks as a destination coffee shop after a 1983 visit to Italy. According to Reuters, however, the $2.09 Starbucks is asking for an espresso is nearly double what local Italian coffee shops typically charge.
Take a look inside the stunning new Milan Roastery: