The world's largest starbucks prepares to open in Chicago
Wind powered in the Windy City! The world’s largest Starbucks prepares to open in Chicago on The Magnificent Mile that will boast four floors, a cocktail bar and will be their greenest coffee house ever
- The ‘largest Starbucks in the world’ is set to open in Friday, November 15 in Chicago, Illinois
- The location, which was built from a Crate & Barrel building, is 35,000-square-feet and has four floors
- The Chicago Reserve Roastery has incredible perks like three coffee bars, a cocktail bar with specially made drinks and sells liquid nitrogen gelato
- The building is one of 340 Illinois Starbucks that are built to be environmentally sustainable and are powered by the city’s wind
- This location is Starbucks sixth and last Reserve Roastery being built, joining other locations like New York, Tokyo and Shanghai
- The Reserve Roastery will be the first Starbucks Roastery location to be wind powered
- Almost 200 employees will be staffed at the new location, with many of them coming from other stores around the country
The ‘largest Starbucks in the world’ is officially scheduled to open with Friday in Chicago, Illinois.
The one-of-a-kind roastery will pull back the curtain on November 15 in the Magnificent Mile, the Windy City’s premiere commercial district known for its vibrant and upscale shopping outlets.
It will become Starbucks sixth and final Reserve Roastery, a ‘theatrical’ step up from the company’s standard shop that celebrates the intimacy of brewing coffee from around the globe.
Other Reserve Roastery locations include, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo, Milan and Seattle.
The ‘largest Starbucks in the world’ is scheduled to open up in Chicago, Illinois, on November 15 with a theatrical roastery experience that showcases tasty brews from around the world across four stories , including three coffee bars and a special cocktail bar
The opulent new Starbucks, which will be the company’s sixth and final Reserve Roastery in the world, was built inside a Crate & Barrel building on in the upscale Chicago area of Magnificent Mile where it will find itself nestled between luxurious shopping centers in the city’s premiere commercial district
The Reserve Roastery in Chicago has nearly 200 baristas and staff workers from across the country to help create an intimate environment for customers looking for exclusive coffee made with one of six high end brewing methods, including the Siphon method
The Reserve Roastery is extravagant, including three coffee bars, a cocktail bar and a selection of food choices from an exclusive Italian bakery from Princi found inside the Starbucks.
CEO Kevin Johnson said in a press interview on Thursday: ‘This roastery is a representation of the relationship that Starbucks has had with the city of Chicago. Chicago has been a market where we innovate and try new things.’
The Chicago roastery, which has nearly 200 employees recruited from around the country, it built inside a 35,000-square-foot- Crate & Barrel building on the corner of North Michigan Avenue and Erie Street.
Johnson said: ‘For us, this is really a dream. The building history here is very unique.’
The rectangular Reserve Roastery, which takes up an incredible 35,000-square-feet, was converted from a Crate & Barrel store that provided designers with the opportunity to use natural light and the structure to erect a visually stunning space for Starbuck’s latest venture
A 56-foot steel cask filled with high quality coffee beans runs straight to the Reserve Roastery’s glass atrium before they are dispersed through thin, winding rods that deliver them to the three in-house coffee bars for excited guests
Jill Enomoto, vice president of Roastery Design & Concept, told USA Today revealed that designers played off the expansive building’s natural light and eye-catching structure.
In a Willy-Wonka like fantasy, the Reserve Roastery contains a 56-foot steel cask that holds and transfers beans as they run straight up to the building’s glass atrium.
Using long, narrow and winding rods, the beans are transported to each of the three coffee bars where guests can order new and old favorites.
A spokeswoman for Starbucks said: ‘As soon as you walk in the door, you experience roasting happening right in front of your face and see the beans shoot from floor to floor. So you are in fact drinking the freshest coffee possible.’
The design staff for the new Reserve Roastery made use of chic, smooth interior decorations that played closely on creating a warm environment for coffee lovers, including a rectangular cocktail bar (pictured) that contains several seats to allow large groups
The Arriviamo Cocktail Bar (pictured) is one of the features that make the Chicago Reserve Roastery stand apart from other coffee shops in the area and it succeeds in creating a multi-purpose establishment that invites people to lounge in Starbucks for all occasions
Customers are invited to roam the four story Roastery to explore several experiences tailored exclusively for Starbucks customers, like an Italian bakery that serves fresh treats, a nitrogen-infused gelato bar on the third floor and a cocktail bar for late night hangouts
Customers were be treated to mouth watering pastries from Princi (pictured), the Italian bakery found on the third floor that was created by baker Rocco Princi that offer many options, including fresh bread, cornetti, forcaccia, pizza, salads, cakes, tarts, cannolis and so much more
Crate & Barrel founder Gordon Segal worked the former Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz to bring their vision of the shop to life.
Segal said: ‘All your senses – your sights, your smells, your sound – is wonderful in a building like this.’
For customers who decide to make the Chicago Reserve Roastery their destination, they will be delighted to encounter wall art and other nods to the Windy City throughout the building.
A ‘love letter’ can be found inside dedicated to Chicago from the Roastery.
It reads: ‘Chicago, you inspire us. Your people, your city, your architecture, your music, your art. Your neighborhoods and communities. Thank you.’
People hoping to find a cozy area to avoid to harsh Chicago winter with a cup of warm coffee can snuggle into sitting areas outfitted with fireplaces that sit near large windows overlooking the city found near one of the three coffee bars that serve rare drinks
Pictured: Designers worked the global company’s color scheme, showcasing the familiar green hue that decorates Starbucks products and filling the rest with warm, calming browns that compliment the modern approach to the interior decorations throughout
Delicious items from the Princi Italian bakery can be found in different locations around the Reserve Roastery in Chicago, but the full selection of immersive foods can only be found at the actual bakery
What’s more impressive than the bounding structure and intricate designs that line the walls are the dining selections available for sale.
While other Starbucks locations serve coffee blends, the Roastery only deals in rare coffees that are roasted on-site in small batches.
At this time, the Chicago location is expected to roast 200,000 pounds per year in 25-pound batches.
On the ground floor, curious visitors can sample classic espresso drinks from the Reserve Coffee Bar and watch the coffee-roasting process in real time.
An antique clack board is viewable as well, allowing customers to see wbere the several locations their beans originated form.
CEO Kevin Johnson: ‘This roastery is a representation of the relationship that Starbucks has had with the city of Chicago. Chicago has been a market where we innovate and try new things’
The Roastery celebrates the global diversity found in coffee by only selling unique, rare coffee that visitors can watch being made in real time at the Reserve Coffee Bar on the ground floor as they watch a clack board update on various locations and sample espressos
The Reserve Roastery in Chicago has a well-versed staff dedicated to creating a distinguished precedence with customers by brewing coffee, with a Starbucks spokeswoman noting that people will ‘experience roasting happening right in front of your face’ when walking through the front entrance
Specially designed coffee cups (pictured) were showcased before the grand opening on Friday, highlighting the company’s clear shift away from their traditional cup designs, their willingness to lean into decorations that convey luxury and a clear distinction from other coffee brands
The Arriviamo Cocktail Bar (pictured)- which is also found in New York and Milan- charms customers with a tasty variety of alcoholic beverages crafted by three local Chicagoan mixologists who blended intriguing drinks like ‘Union Stock’ and ‘Roastery Boilmaker’ that honor the city with a shot of liqour Marlot
In creating the mix of alcoholic beverages that would be sold inside the Roastery Reserve, Starbucks hoped to create drinks that ‘represented Chicago’ and made use the city they were placing their final Reserve in
Up on the third-floor, an array of flasks, tubes and cylinders surround the Experiential Coffee bar where trained baristas will brew delectable mixtures.
The fourth-floor is home to Barrel-Aged Coffee, a type of beverage that blends non-alcoholic coffee beans aged in Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey barrels.
To give the Barrel-Aged coffee even more distinction, the Roastery brands its ice with ‘R’ for cold brews to order.
For customers looking for a stronger taste, the Arriviamo Cocktail Bar -which is also found in New York and Milan- is placed on the same floor.
Three local mixologists spearheaded the project to create a variety of beverages, including the ‘Union Stock,’ Lake Shore,’ Pour Over Bijou,’ and ‘Roastery Boilermaker.’
The ‘Roastery Boilermaker’is blended with a shot of the bitter liqour Marlot that is known as a staple in Chicago.
Teams working ob the Chicago Roastery Reserve say they wanted to be sure the location correctly ‘represented Chicago.’
Pictured: A baker in the Pinci Italian bakery sprinkles a mist of ingredients over pastries sold at Pincis, the in-house Italian bakery, as his fellow co-workers work on perfecting other food items in preparation for the anticipated grand opening on Friday
Pictured: a batch of Brioche alla Crema, or ‘Cream Puffs’, that will be served to visitors starting on November 15 when the Chicago Reserve Roastery opens at 8am
Starbucks Reserve boast that all Princi desserts are ‘edible art’ that is handmade by pastry chefs and will be sold year-round to hungry customers looking to be delighted by foreign taste and cuisine
Throughout the massive establishment, nods to Chicago are represented in a variety of ways, including special drinks, decor and a wall art that reads, ‘Chicago, you inspire us. Your people, your city, your architecture, your music, your art. Your neighborhoods and communities’
The Chicago Reserve Roastery sets itself apart from other chains by creating a location that not only works to surpass customer standards, but rise to the challenge of environmental impact by producing the products with sustainability efforts and renewable energy
This Chicago Starbucks Reserve Roastery ascends above other businesses because of the company’s commitment to sustainable practices.
The building is LEED-certified, meaning it meets the construction standards of the Leadership in Environmental & Energy Design.
Starbucks said in a statement: ‘This builds on our ongoing efforts to address our environmental impact and ensure that we offer our customers coffee in the most sustainable way.’
The company announced that more than 340 Illinois Starbucks stores are currently powered by 100 percent renewable energy from wind power generated from the city.
The Reserve Roastery will be the first Starbucks Roastery location to be wind powered.
This is one of several instance of Starbucks push for environmental consciousness, like their $10 million investment in four community leaders to create economic opportunity in Chicago.
In 2019, Chicago was named the ‘greenest place to work’ in the United States.
The building diners and coffee lovers will spend their time in LEED-certified, meaning the Chicago Starbucks Reserve Roastery meets the construction standards of the Leadership Environmental & Energy Design, falling in line with the report that Chicago is the ‘greenest place to work’
On the fourth-floor, baristas will create Barrel-Aged Coffee that blends non-alcoholic beans aged in Knob Creek Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey barrels and, in addition, can serve signature branded ice with a ‘R’
In addition to the menu of coffee, customers can much on several flavors of hand-mixed liquid nitrogen gelato, which is made by combining two shots of espresso poured atop Starbucks nitrogen infused sweet cream gelato
Employees at the Reserve Roastery can expect to keep their hands busy while on the job, since it was revealed that Starbucks expects to roast 200,000 pounds of coffee beans per year at the location in 25-pound batches
Pictured: a staff worker prepares a special made cocktail at the Arriviamo Cocktail Bar, many of which include a splash of coffee to integrate the Reserve Roastery’s in-house coffee beans collected from around the globe
In addition to the cocktails tailored for this Starbucks location, Arriviamo Cocktail Bar will serve familiar favorites like classic cocktails, beer, wines and aperitivi – perfect to entice friends to come out for a fun night on Magnificent Mile
The 48-year-old company opened its doors in Seattle, Washington, in 1971, and has dug its roots into Chicago over the years to create a foothold in the city.
In 1987, Starbucks opened their first franchise store in Chicago in 1987 and opened a location inside the O’Hare International Airport in 1993.
Two years later, Starbucks unveiled a 4,000-square-foot store on Rush Street and that was considered the largest company store at the time.
After the grand opening, location hours will be 7am to 11pm Monday through Friday, 7am to midnight on Friday, 8am to midnight on Saturday and 8am to 10pm on Sunday.
Starbucks has created specific merchandise that calls out to the Chicago area by including coordinates that relate to the city and labeling their cups with the phrase ‘best in the Midwest’
Although customers will flock to the new Starbucks dubbed ‘the largest in the world’, Chicago was also home to the company’s largest location in 1995 when they built a 4,000-square-foot store on Rush Street
Pictured: Early guests look on in awe as Starbucks baristas and servers whip up on of the many drink selections available for guests to partake in
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