Starbucks Coffee Company has announced that it will create a more accessible store experience across its U.S. store portfolio through an Inclusive Spaces Framework.
Building on the company’s commitment to inclusion, the new design framework defines how Starbucks will help expand independence, choice and ease for all people across physical and digital spaces. The first store to be built using the inclusive design framework opens today in Washington, D.C. and features items such as optimised acoustics and lighting for improved visual and audible communication for customers and accessible equipment designs for a better partner (employee) experience, among other features.
The new store concept will include an updated point-of-sale system, customer order status boards, power-operated doors, inclusive equipment designs, paths of travel, and a friendlier fit-out design.
The Inclusive Spaces Framework was created in partnership with a diverse community of customers, partners and accessibility experts to develop scalable solutions for retail spaces. Moving forward, all newly built and renovated Starbucks company-operated stores in the U.S. will begin to incorporate the framework, a key milestone in ensuring Starbucks continues to expand accessibility and inclusion. The framework will also be open-sourced and further developed to help expand accessibility across the retail industry.
“At Starbucks, we have challenged ourselves to imagine what’s possible when we take a closer look at the many ways our partners and customers interact with us and experience our stores every day,” said Katie Young, senior vice president of store operations.
“Building and scaling an Inclusive Store Framework is central to our mission of connection and will lead to greater access for all.”
An estimated one in four adults in the United States has a disability, and Starbucks is working to better meet the needs of its partners, customers and communities. The Inclusive Spaces Framework is already intentionally embedded into the company’s rapid store growth plans in the U.S.
As Laxman Narasimhan, chief executive officer of Starbucks, shared during the recent Q1 FY24 earnings call, the company is bullish on new store openings and its strong unit economics. Starbucks plans to continue open more stores, growing by approximately four percent this year in the U.S. on a base of over 16,000, including licensed stores. Further, new company-operated stores in the U.S. are averaging unit volumes of approximately $2 million with ROIs of approximately 50 percent. With strong unit economics and abundant opportunity ahead, new store growth in the U.S. will continue to fuel the company’s Triple Shot strategy.
