New York- It may appear like there’s a Starbucks at every corner of the streets. Yet the company is still planning on adding thousands of more locations in the next ten years.
On Wednesday, at an investor event, Starbucks said that it plans to increase its stores to about 56,000 by 2030, up from approximately 33,000 today. Starbucks is betting that by overflowing the market with new types of chain stores, including curbside pickup and smaller locations, it will be able to snatch more customers from the competition.
The company’s operating officer, Roz Brewer, said, “Though we are increasing a large base, there is enough room to expand in areas where Starbucks brand is less pierced.” She stated that Starbucks has a “specific focus on high margin, high volume, suburban areas.”
The new structure can help reduce crowding in certain stores, said the company’s chief operating officer.
“As we introduce more systematic formats, we’re decreasing the long lines that many times occur in metro locations, increasing sales,” she said.
The company is striving to regain the business lost during the Coronavirus pandemic; commuting patterns were disturbed as many employees worked from home. Internationally, sales at Starbucks fell 10% in three months.
Some regions have got along better than others. However, overall sales fell in the districts, sales at Starbucks’ suburban areas and drive-thru stores grew.
At the same time, competitors like Dunkin’ have been more acceptable to hold onto customers. Dunkin’s store sales increased to 1% in the third quarter.
Starbucks’ expansion plan is combined with efforts to motivate customers to visit those locations, including more generous prizes in its loyalty program as well as new food and drinks. Starbucks use loyalty programs to gain more knowledge about their customers and encourage repeat sales.
Intending to motivate more customers to join the program, the company expanded the payment options to include credit, cash, cards and Google or Apple pay.
