- The Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Shanghai is the largest Starbucks in the world with a total square-footage of 30,000 square feet.
- The Roastery features in-house roasting, three coffee bars, an augmented reality experience designed by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, and a special Teavana tea bar.
- It feels like an amusement park or coffee. Since opening in December, the cafe is usually packed with customers and, at peak times, has a line out the door.
Is the thing missing from your daily cup of coffee a wild amusement park-like experience complete with bustling crowds, whizzing pipes, and a gift shop?
Starbucks is hoping so.
It's proving true in Shanghai at least, where the company opened the largest Starbucks in the world in December. The Reserve Roastery, the second of its kind, is a 30,000 square-foot two-story tribute to coffee and tea — it's in China, after all.
The Reserve Roastery Shanghai, located on the city's biggest shopping thoroughfare and surrounded by luxury shops, is the company's attempt to restore the company's reputation as a premium brand.
From the two-story bronze cask at the center of the store to the nitrogen-infused tea drinks to an augmented reality experience created by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, it's clear that Starbucks has pulled out all the stops.
The effort — one small facet of the company's extensive investment in China — seems to have paid off. At least at the Reserve location. Since opening, the location has remained packed from opening to closing.
I recently visited the Starbucks while in Shanghai to see what all the hubbub was about.
The Starbucks is located on Nanjing Road, Shanghai's version of New York City's Fifth Avenue or Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The area is dominated by high-end luxury stores and shopping malls.
I arrived at the Starbucks early in the morning. Any time past mid-morning and I risked waiting in a line that stretches for blocks. Since opening in December, the Starbucks — the largest in the world and the company's second Reserve Roastery — has become a major tourist attraction for Shanghainese locals and visiting Chinese.
I had seen the lines on my previous two days in Shanghai. Even when I arrived in the morning, the cafe was bustling. There were few seats available and a sense of chaos as I struggled to figure out where to order. It felt like being at the hottest bar in town on a Friday night.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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