![]() ![]() " I've seen the end of the universe, and it happens to be in the United States and, oddly enough, it's in Houston, Texas. The following was written after Lewis Black played the Laff Stop in River Oaks Plaza, so both W Gray Starbucks were open sometime before that performance. Perhaps though that intersection wasn't considered to be in the Houston city limits at that time, so the Chronicle doesn't count it. I'm not sure if that is quite true, I distinctly remember going with my family to Starbucks after dinner up at the 1960/Champion Forest Drive store, my senior year of high school when it was a novelty for us (I was class of 1994). Houston Chronicle says the first Starbucks was the Highland Village location, then the Galleria, then Westheimer and Fountainview, and then a fourth location opened in February 1995, but it doesn't say where. Where and when does everyone remember going to their first Starbucks in Houston in the 90s?ĥ508 FM 1960 W (NE corner of FM 1960 and Champion Forest Drive - since moved to the NW corner) I'm trying to get an idea of where and when Starbucks really exploded on the scene here in Houston. Starbucks is so ubiquitous now, and has been for so long, with a location every few hundred yards (it sometimes seems), but I do remember a time when Starbucks was a novelty in Houston. Pivoting to prioritize these other methods of reaching customers is key to what has made Starbucks so successful, because the chain is able to adapt to changing customer preferences, Yarbrough said, He pointed out that 75% of drinks sold by Starbucks are cold, which weren't even part of the chain's original menu.Driving past another new Starbucks location in my neighborhood this morning, got to thinking. "They probably don't need all this room for people to sit around." Drive-thrus have outperformed locations without drive-thrus, he said, and having smaller seating areas to maintain could give Starbucks some savings. "The days of customers getting a coffee and hanging out are probably behind," he told Insider. Focusing on drive-thru and mobile ordering is in part an impact of the pandemic, but the shift in priority was happening before COVID-19 hit, Yarbrough said. These changes at Starbucks don't mean that most locations will be without seating and space for customers to gather, Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough told Insider. This concept is in conflict with the chain's more recent emphasis on convenience, shifting the definition of "third place" into a " mindset" over a physical space. The chain presented itself as a "third place," where people can gather outside of homes and workplaces. Starbucks initially grew into a massive success by popularizing a premium coffee experience and introducing Americans to espressos drinks like lattes. The chain is considering locations that are drive-thru only, and has already created pick-up only stores and partnered with Amazon to launch a joint Amazon Go store where only mobile orders and payments are accepted. Starbucks closed some lower-performing mall locations in the past to focus more on drive-thrus. About half of locations have technology that allows customers to order through tablets operated by workers in drive-thru lines, and 65% of locations are planned to have them by the end of 2022, CEO Howard Schultz said in the call. About 90% of new locations are being built with drive-thrus, The Wall Street Journal reported in May. In other words, just 28% of customers enter Starbucks and place their orders with baristas, some of them staying and drinking their beverages on Starbucks property.Ĭustomers seem to love the convenience of alternative ordering methods, and Starbucks is making it even easier. Over two-thirds of orders now come from the mobile app, drive-thru, and delivery, the coffee giant said in an August earnings call. Starbucks is moving farther away from its roots in favor of convenience and efficiency. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]()
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