The History Of Starbucks Reserve Stores Began With Much Larger Plans

In 2014, Starbucks opened its first Reserve Roastery in Seattle, the place of the company's inception. This sprawling 15,000-square-foot space was dedicated to offering an immersive experience for customers to learn more about the journey of coffee beans from farm to cup and sample firsthand differences in beans and roasting processes. Since then, six other Reserve Roasteries have cropped up around the world in major cities such as Chicago, Shanghai, New York, Milan, and Tokyo. Some of the Reserve stores, like the one in Seattle, also offer areas that can be used as event spaces. 

Each Reserve location offers unique experiences, like the Starbucks coffee tasting lab (which we tried), for visitors to sample custom-made food and drink recipes and shop for Starbucks-branded products. The lineup of Starbucks Reserve coffee is roasted in these flagship stores and each is named according to its city. Menus provided at each Reserve are also location-specific in order to highlight the unique coffee made in each place. While customers can still get hands-on experiences and learn more about Starbucks' coffee in each existing Reserve store, the original idea was to have many more of these kinds of luxury experiences available. But a shift in leadership changed all of that.

Original plans for the Starbucks Reserve Roastery stores called for hundreds of these experience stores to be built — 1,000, to be exact. The Starbucks Reserve line differs from standard Starbucks offerings. These behemoth stores were meant to appeal to more refined coffee lovers, and the immersive kinds of experiences provided within the roasteries were designed to help establish a more premium reputation for the brand. After former CEO Howard Schultz stepped down in 2017, however, Kevin Johnson was named his replacement and took a more conservative approach to business. 

He pivoted the drafted business plans for Reserve stores and ultimately pulled the brakes on continued expansion. Johnson publicly admitted that the plans to open so many stores was lofty, and wanted to take time to evaluate the success of the existing Reserve stores before outlining any goals for additional growth or construction. Had the new CEO not stepped in when he did, we may have had many more Reserve Roastery locations to visit in person — or the fate of Starbucks could have looked much different from what we see today. While Reserve locations continue to offer up new drinks, merchandise, and activities — like 2024's "Ultimate Pumpkin Spice Experience" — there are currently no known plans to expand the line.