On 28 August, it was reported that the international coffee goliath Starbucks had reopened its branch at the Mixc Mall in Hangzhou after renewal. The renewed Starbucks Reserve location combines coffee, an art gallery and social space to offer an updated flavour of the chain’s iconic “Third Place”, also known as the third space.
The Starbucks Reserve is a premium programme from the American coffee chain with its own roasteries and branches. These branches focus on the coffee beans used and various ways the drinks are made, expanding from espresso to filter and French press coffees. Another key difference that sets the Reserve branches apart is that they usually have artistic decorations and designs to provide a reimagined “Third Place” for customers.
The Mixc Mall Hangzhou branch is no different. Starbucks prides itself on the “art gallery” atmosphere and the immersive experience akin to an art exhibition with coffee-themed artworks on its walls. The pieces, in the forms of both painting and photography, are centred around a narrative of the journey of bean searching, from the beans’ origin in Pu’er, Yunnan through the growth and harvest processes. It connects the bar in the coffee shop, which is the last 10 feet of the beans’ journey and the field, which is the first 10 feet of the same journey.
As the competition in the coffee sector in China gets even more fierce, especially with prices, providing more value through in-store experiences can be an inspired move for Starbucks. It also harks back to the brand’s USP in third spaces, which Chinese tea and coffee chains, such as Tea’stone are also building with its large branch locations. Hangzhou is also one of the hot cities for international brands to localise. Interestingly, Starbucks opened a creative 400th store in the city almost exactly a year ago.
