Exclusive: At Starbucks, the future is smaller

Nick Laessig for Starbucks

Starbucks is on a mission to recapture its roots as a place to sit down for a cup of coffee. But it doesn’t think it needs a big footprint to deliver on that promise.

A new café prototype that opened last month in San Antonio has all the features of a typical Starbucks, like plush seating, bakery treats displayed in a glass case as well as an espresso bar for baristas to make drinks. However, it’s a fraction of the size of a usual location.

The new design helps Starbucks push into areas where real estate is expensive, particularly in major cities. Starbucks reworked the counter with a new “folded bar” configuration to fit into narrower spaces rather than running the entirety of a café.

But the chain said the new format still has seating for people to socialize and connect, which has become a hallmark of its reinvigoration plan to recapture the “third place” energy that’s a priority for CEO Brian Niccol.

“These particular new formats are really stretching us to be more adaptable to different types of location, different shapes and different sizes, but they still hold all of the aspects of the (coffee house) experience,” said Dawn Clark, the company’s senior vice president of global concepts and design.

Prior to Niccol’s arrival in 2024, Starbucks largely tailored its locations to customers picking up orders off its mobile app. It pulled out 30,000 comfortable seats, installed hard wooden stools and blocked electrical outlets, making cafes a less desirable place to hang out.

Sales suffered as a result, as well as for a variety of other reasons , including higher prices, longer waits for pickup orders and lackluster food options.

In 2025 , as part of a $1 billion restructuring effort, the chain announced a massive renovation plan that brought back cozy seating, more plugs and free refills to encourage customers to stick around. So far, 1,500 existing locations have been redesigned in North America, with Starbucks planning to accelerate the face lifts.

A smaller-sized prototype could fit into its growth plans.

Starbucks is applying aspects of its broader redesign project to this smaller prototype. It doesn’t want repeat the mistakes of the ill-fated pick-up only stores that were created for small spaces.

Niccol shuttered them in July 2025 , saying the locations were “overly transactional.” The sterile design didn’t have seats and encouraged people to order strictly via its mobile app.

Clark used that as a case study for this design so as to not limit how people order their drinks. About 30% of customers use mobile ordering, the company says.

“Customers have variable needs and they would like to be able to choose different ways of interacting with us, depending on what their day is like,” she told CNN, adding that the new locations let people order in person, for delivery, on the app and even at a drive-thru.

So far, six locations of the smaller prototype are open, including in San Antonio and Manhattan. The company declined to reveal the square footage of the new design.

Starbucks has had a mixed success in attracting people back to the chain. The company has closed hundreds of locations over the past two years across North America.

However, same-store US sales turned positive in the most recent quarter, and it has plans to open about 5,000 new locations in the coming years.

Clark said they’ve learned from the 1,000 locations they’ve remolded so far, and plan to use the information from both customers and employees in this new, smaller design.

“It’s very symbiotic and we’re getting a lot of feedback that the kind of reenergizing of the coffee house is really positive for both sides.”

尼克·莱西格为星巴克

星巴克正致力于重拾其作为人们坐下来喝杯咖啡的场所的初心。但它认为，无需大规模扩张就能实现这一承诺。

上个月在圣安东尼奥开业的一家新型咖啡馆原型店具备典型星巴克的所有特征，例如舒适的座椅、玻璃柜中陈列的烘焙点心以及供咖啡师制作饮品的意式浓缩咖啡吧。然而，它的面积却比普通门店小得多。

新的设计帮助星巴克进军房地产价格昂贵的地区，尤其是在大城市。星巴克重新设计了柜台，采用全新的“折叠吧台”布局，使其能够适应更狭窄的空间，而无需占用整个咖啡馆的面积。

但该连锁店表示，新形式仍然保留了供人们社交和交流的座位，这已成为其重振计划的标志，旨在重新夺回首席执行官 Brian Niccol 优先考虑的“第三空间”能量。

“这些新的形式确实要求我们更好地适应不同类型的地点、不同的形状和不同的大小，但它们仍然保留了（咖啡馆）体验的所有方面，”该公司全球概念和设计高级副总裁 Dawn Clark 说。

在尼科尔于2024年上任之前，星巴克的大部分门店都以顾客通过手机应用程序下单取餐为主要服务方式。它移除了3万个舒适的座椅，换装了硬木凳，并封堵了电源插座，使得咖啡馆不再是人们理想的休闲场所。

受此影响，销售额也受到影响，此外还有其他各种原因，包括价格上涨、取货订单等待时间延长以及食品选择匮乏。

2025年，作为一项耗资10亿美元的重组计划的一部分，星巴克宣布了一项大规模的翻新计划，旨在恢复舒适的座椅、增加电源插座并提供免费续杯服务，以鼓励顾客停留更长时间。目前，北美已有1500家门店完成改造，星巴克计划加快翻新步伐。

尺寸较小的原型机或许更符合其发展计划。

星巴克正将其更广泛的重新设计项目中的一些理念应用到这个较小的原型店中。它不想重蹈覆辙，再次犯下那些为小空间设计的、最终以失败告终的仅供外带的门店的错误。

尼科尔于2025年7月关闭了这些门店，称其“过于注重交易”。这些门店设计冷清，没有座位，并鼓励顾客仅通过其手机应用程序点餐。

克拉克以此案例为基础进行设计，旨在不限制顾客点饮品的方式。该公司表示，约有30%的顾客使用手机下单。

她告诉 CNN：“顾客的需求各不相同，他们希望能够根据当天的安排选择不同的与我们互动的方式。”她还补充说，新店允许顾客亲自下单、外卖、通过应用程序下单，甚至可以通过免下车窗口下单。

目前，小型原型店已开设六家分店，包括圣安东尼奥和曼哈顿的分店。该公司拒绝透露新设计的具体面积。

星巴克在吸引顾客重返门店方面收效甚微。过去两年，该公司已在北美关闭了数百家门店。

然而，该公司最近一个季度的美国同店销售额转正，并计划在未来几年开设约 5000 家新店。

克拉克表示，他们从迄今为止改造的 1000 个地点中吸取了经验，并计划将来自顾客和员工的信息运用到这个新的、规模更小的设计中。

“这是一种互惠互利的模式，我们收到了很多反馈，认为咖啡馆的这种复兴对双方来说都是非常积极的。”