Business Insider/Jessica Tyler Princi has a huge selection of freshly baked breads and pastries, plus a coffee bar.
- Starbucks just opened its first stand-alone Princi bakery in New York City.
- The bakery, located in New York's Theater District, is the third Princi Bakery to open in the United States. Starbucks is an investor in and licensee of Princi.
- We visited the bakery on opening day. Here's what it was like.
Starbucks just opened its first stand-alone Princi bakery in New York City.
The Princi bakery in New York's Theater District is Starbucks' third in the United States, following openings in Seattle and Chicago. Princi was first opened in 1986 by Italian baker Rocco Princi, expanding to five locations in Milan and London over the course of 30 years. Starbucks and Princi joined forces in 2016, when the coffee giant joined the bakery's global investment team and licensed the first Princi location in the US at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle.
Princi is the sole provider of baked goods at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle and at Starbucks Reserve Roasteries around the world. The Roasteries are seen as more upscale than the typical Starbucks location. Customers typically spend four times more in the company's Roastery locations than in a traditional Starbucks, according to a company spokesperson.
While the new Princi bakery in New York is not part of a Reserve Roastery, Starbucks has announced that there will be a Reserve Roastery - with a Princi inside - opening in New York by the end of the year.
The design of Princi's first New York bakery was inspired by Rocco Princi's original bakery in Milan, using natural materials, earth-colored stone, hand-blown glass light fixtures, and a 20-foot wall displaying colorful ingredients like lemons, peppers, and tomatoes. A 20-foot communal table sits in the center of the room, meant to promote a sense of community.
We checked out the bakery on opening day - here's what it was like:
