Starbucks Bringing Alcohol Sales To Thousands of Stores

Question: What goes best with coffee? Answer: Alcohol! Well Starbucks believes so as they expand alcohol sales to thousands of stores.

In a report by Bloomberg News, Starbucks will expand its evening alcohol and light bites menu, which includes bacon-wrapped dates and Malbec wine, to thousands of stores. CEO, Troy Alstead, had this to say in a phone interview:

We’ve tested it long enough in enough markets — this is a program that works. As we bring the evening program to stores, there’s a meaningful increase in sales during that time of the day.

Starbucks focused on selling more non-coffee items, such as alcohol, juices, teas, and sandwiches, to keep up with the U.S. growth. Starbucks also recently announced a long-term plan to almost double its market value to $100 billion. This includes expanding and improving their rewards program and mobile applications, which includes a test for customers to order ahead of time with their smartphones.

As reported by The Inquisitr, Starbucks announced selling alcohol back in 2011. The first Starbucks store to officially sell “liquid courage” was a Seattle store back in October 2010. In 2012, Starbucks expanded alcohol sales to test 25 locations in Chicago, Atlanta, and Southern California. In Chicago, the After-4 p.m. menu includes food and wine delicacies such as truffle macaroni and cheese, chicken skewers, Chardonnay, and chocolate fondue.

The evening food and drinks menu, which are in about 40 stores now, won’t work in all Starbucks cafes. By the results of tests, the menu seems to work for Starbucks close to other restaurants, theaters, and other nightly hangout spots, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Nevertheless, this is a very smart food and drink marketing idea, especially when it comes to Starbucks’s brand expansion. It worked when they incorporated food and non-alcoholic beverages. It will work with alcohol, especially in 20,100 Starbucks locations worldwide, 11,500 of those in the United States.

Finally, something about pairing alcohol, which is the third most-used drug (depressant) in the world, with coffee, which is the most-used drug (caffeine) in the world, seems to be a profitable idea. Probably not a moral idea for Starbucks, but very profitable indeed.

[Images via Bing]