As experiments go, this one isn’t flashy.
But the success – or failure – of one Starbucks cafe on the edge of a trendy Seattle neighborhood could ripple through the nation’s coffee house industry.
Because where Starbucks goes, others follow.
Dubbed “Olive Way,” the store is the biggest percolator yet for ideas that the world’s largest coffee company has been testing separately at nearly a dozen locations around the globe. And what succeeds at Olive Way will most likely be spread to other Starbucks stores around the country.
With muted, earthy colors, an indoor-outdoor fireplace, cushy chairs, and a menu with wine from the Pacific Northwest’s vineyards and beer from local craft brewers, this 2,500-square-foot shop in the Capitol Hill neighborhood will reopen in the fall with espresso machines in the middle.
“It’s going to feel very different,” said Kris Engskov, Starbucks’ regional vice president.
