Starbucks, Now With More Alcohol!


Get ready to clarify what you mean by “double shot”- alcohol is coming to more Starbucks locations!

Before you start picturing mochatinis, you should know that booze is a whole separate menu for Starbucks. And that the program has been piloted on a very small scale. The idea of adding booze to Starbucks came as the company tried to think of ways to combat the afternoon slump- business still booms in the morning, when everyone feels like death and looks like a zombie.

But in the afternoon hours, coffee is less of a draw, as everyone is either at work or napping. The company has used “treat receipts” to lure addicts back, and has expanded its food menu to get people in the afternoon, but Starbucks hopes alcohol is compelling enough to cement a more loyal base of late-day customers.

BusinessWeek spoke to Starbucks’ US VP, who said that the program is slowly expanding in a handful of states. The site explains:

The specific stores have been “carefully selected” and are larger and have more seating than regular Starbucks sites, Clarice Turner, senior vice president of U.S. operations, said in an interview today. Starbucks also is selling fruit-and- cheese plates and focaccia with olive oil at the stores that serve alcohol, she said. The company isn’t considering the concept for the whole chain, Turner said.

Pricing is in line with that of regular bar pricing here, with beers at about $5 a unit and wine at about $7-9 a glass in Oregon. The program is expanding to Southern California, Atlanta and Chicago. Would you go to Starbucks for a beer?

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