Starbucks Corp. will open a pick-up-only concept store in New York's Manhattan district this fall, Bloomberg News reported Sept. 5, citing CEO Kevin Johnson.
The Seattle-based coffee chain plans to pattern the Manhattan store after its Starbucks Now concept in China where customers can order in advance using their mobile phones and claim their items at a specialty store without having to wait, the news wire said.
"What we're using Starbucks Now for, and what will be Starbucks pick-up stores in the U.S., is to blend them in where we have dense urban areas where we have a lot of Starbucks third-place cafes," Johnson reportedly said.
According to the report, the new store format is not expected to replace regular Starbucks coffee shops.
Starbucks plans to eventually expand the concept to other cities including Boston, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, the news outlet added.
