I visited Starbucks Seattle headquarters, which includes a test lab and coffee tasting room.
Part of the headquarters is set up as a museum of Starbucks’ history.
Baristas and other workers in the lab developed newly announced updates to how certain drinks will be made.
While in Seattle for the company’s investor day, I visited Starbucks’ world headquarters in the city’s SoDo neighborhood.
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The top of the building has the iconic siren logo.
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In case it still wasn’t clear, there was also a large sign noting that it was Starbucks outside.
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The siren made another appearance on the doors leading into the lobby.
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The lobby was set up for visitors to wait in, and reminded me of a Starbucks store with seats, tables, and warm lighting.
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The area felt very comfortable and open, with light wood paneling and a plant wall.
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The wall had a timeline that marked significant moments in Starbucks history, like the first time CEO Howard Schultz returned to the company, and the launch of the frappuccino.
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I was invited upstairs, where there was nearly an entire floor functioning as a museum of Starbucks history.
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I could see exactly how the company changed walking through the displays, like the evolution of the siren logo since 1971.
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A projector plays old footage of Pike Place Market, where Starbucks first opened, on a loop.
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Source: Insider
Another wall is completely covered in an image of the Pike Place Market Starbucks.
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A museum-like display behind glass shows some of the most significant pieces of Starbucks history.
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A miniature car commemorates the first Starbucks drive-thru in 1994. Drive-thrus are now key to Starbucks’ sales, and about 90% of new locations have one.
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Source: Insider
Another display memorializes the original Starbucks website. Digital presence has become huge for the chain, with mobile orders making up about 25% of sales.
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Source: Insider
Pieces of Starbucks history are everywhere, like this coffee scale and original bags of coffee beans.
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The menu from 1973 is especially interesting, and it shows you could buy a pound of coffee beans for under $2.
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At the time, Starbucks sold coffee, tea, and spices, with no beverages available in store.
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Part of the museum is dedicated to workers, which Starbucks calls partners.
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Starbucks workers are also called green aprons for the uniform that they wear.
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Starbucks CEO and founder Howard Schultz has repeatedly said that company meetings and conferences always have two empty chairs, one for the customer and one for the employee, so those are recreated here.
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Source: Insider
Then, there’s a kind of music hall of fame of different artists whose CDs were sold in Starbucks stores.,
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Many of the artists also included signed memorabilia.
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Then I moved into the areas of the store where employees actually work, like this atrium filled with natural light.
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There are living coffee trees in the middle of the atrium.
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The trees even produce coffee cherries, which are harvested.
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One of the biggest versions of the Starbucks logo sits right next to the coffee plants.
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There’s a functioning Starbucks staffed with baristas where workers can make pick-up orders.
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It has a full seating area while the rest of the store is under construction to open.
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Employees order their drinks and pick them up a few minutes later without leaving the office.
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All cups are reusable, and can be dropped in these bins around the office after they’re used.
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There are other coffee elements all throughout the headquarters.
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There’s a full size coffee roaster open to passersby.
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The roaster is part of a room on that floor where baristas learn how to make drinks.
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Starbucks corporate workers have access to far more coffee options that most traditional offices.
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Kitchens throughout the office have the syrups and flavorings available in Starbucks stores, so workers can remake their favorite order or create a new recipe.
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Kitchen refrigerators are also filled with all the milk varieties available in stores, including oat and almond milks.
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Then I visited the cupping room, which is located next to rows of tables and cubicles of corporate workers.
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In this room, specially-trained Starbucks employees taste as many as 100 cups of coffee per day to ensure they’re high quality.
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Cuppers follow a specific technique of smelling and tasting coffee before spitting it out into a spittoon.
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I also visited the 20,000 square foot Tryer Center, where Starbucks developed and refined the changes to the bar announced at investor day.
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Source: Insider
There’s an entire functional Starbucks in the Tryer Center to test out ideas, where the goal is idea to action in 100 days.
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My final stop before leaving was this stuffed purple chair, a replica of the ones that became iconic in Starbucks store design in the 1990s when the chain embraced an identity as a third place.
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Source: Starbucks
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