Starbucks wants to make your morning coffee quicker, and maybe even tastier.  The coffee giant announced that it would be testing express stores in New York city, as well as a line of specialty stores that will be selling it’s ‘small batch’ coffee.

The busiest Starbucks in America – Times Square in New York City. Service was quick – but not Express!

From the Wall Street Journal:

 Starbucks Corp. said Friday that it plans to cater to busy commuters by launching smaller, express-style stores.

The new stores will have reduced beverage and food menus and will integrate the company’s digital payment and mobile ordering systems to speed up service, the company said.

The Seattle-based coffeehouse chain is looking to capitalize on the strength of its drive-through stores, which make up about 40% of its U.S. company-operated stores and have higher sales growth than stores without drive-through service, the company said.

And from Fortune:

Starbucks is planning to open its first-ever tasting room in December, after more than two years of developing that concept. That concept will be a 15,000 square-foot interactive retail store.

Starbucks also says it plans to expand its “Reserve†coffee options–which are some of the rarer coffees it often sells for a limited time–to 1,500 locations globally, as well as open at least 100 stores in the next five years designed to sell those rare coffees exclusively.

Bottom Line

The idea of having an express Starbucks is great, as I like to simplify, simplify, simplify, rather than wait in line while others order their coffee that has no less than 5 adjectives to describe it.  The question will be how they keep the service quick and uncomplicated?