The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Starbucks hopes quieter stores ease order-taking
Company renovating some locations, plans further expansion.
Starbucks Corp. doesn’t want you to have to shout to order your iced latte.
The coffee chain’s new and renovated stores include materials such as baffles on the ceiling that help reduce background noise and reverberations. That could make it easier for guests — especially those with hearing loss — to communicate while also dampening the din that can make it difficult for baristas to discern what customers are saying.
Such mishaps frustrate both diners and workers, who deal with complaints if a customer gets a hot americano instead of an iced one or a butter croissant and not the chocolate version. A study of the restaurant industry from research firm Intouch Insight shows that drive-thru orders are accurate only 86% of the time and errors can cost tens of thousand of dollars.
“Imagine you’ve got all that background noise happening, and then you’ve got a window open in front of you, and you’re trying to communicate with a customer,” said Sara Trilling, president of Starbucks North America. Improved acoustics “will translate to order accuracy and just a better customer experience overall,” she said.
The baffles, which are ceiling treatments that help absorb sound, also will help baristas at the register and customers who could miss their name being called in a noisy store.
Quieter spaces are one example of how Starbucks is thinking about its cafes as it further expands around the globe. In the U.S., Starbucks plans to add about 650 stores in the fiscal year ending in October, and it’s shooting for 20,000 long term, up from more than 16,300 today. The acoustic treatment is part of a design framework for new locations and for the roughly 1,000 U.S. shops that will be renovated this fiscal year.
Another core tenet of the global expansion, which is the main focus of this year’s $3 billion in capital expenditures, is to build more of what Starbucks calls “purpose-defined stores” that can cater to trends such as demand for iced beverages and to-go orders, the company said.
Locations built to serve hot coffee have at times struggled with the surging popularity of cold drinks, which require copious amounts of ice. The pandemic, meanwhile, sparked a rush to online orders, which are easier to customize, overburdening baristas.
Drive-thrus are a big part of the plan. As many as 80% of new U.S. locations opening this fiscal year will have them, according to the company. About 60% had drivethrus in 2020, a share that rose to 70% by November 2023.
“We are heavily, heavily investing in drive-thrus,” said Trilling, whose job includes improving conditions for Starbucks’ restaurant workers. The company also will continue to develop locations dedicated solely to pickup or drive-thru, although Trilling said many new locations will still have dining rooms.
Starbucks is using the Siren System, a setup that brings everything needed for making cold drinks closer together, to make existing stores more productive. Baristas tap buttons to dispense milk or ice instead of fetching them from refrigerators, while blenders and syrup pumps are positioned within reach. The system will be in 500 U.S. locations this year, Trilling said.
“It does unlock productivity benefits in capacity-constrained stores,” Trilling said. “That capacity can also be used to connect with customers.” Starbucks encourages baristas to make “human connection” with diners.
In addition, Starbucks said it has expanded the number of stores that use less energy and water and produce less waste. The company last year switched to smaller “nugget” ice cubes, which Trilling said require less energy to make.