Headlines

Starbucks Unveils Espresso Bar Format

Pick-up only site changed to cozy coffeehouse in NY’s Flatiron District.

Published

2 weeks ago

October 30, 2025

VMSD Staff

Starbucks Unveils Espresso Bar Format — Starbucks' new "Espresso Bar" format at 23rd Street and Park Avenue in New York. Photo: Courtesy of Starbucks

Starbucks' new "Espresso Bar" format at 23rd Street and Park Avenue in New York. Photo: Courtesy of Starbucks

Starbucks (Seattle) has taken the wraps off its first “espresso bar” format store in New York’s Flatiron District, reports Fast Company. The new, small-store design (265 square feet in front-of-house space) will serve as the cornerstone of Starbucks’s future expansion plans, Starbucks told the magazine.

Earlier this year, the store was for mobile orders and pickup-only. After a speedy “uplift” (Starbucks’ term for a small-scale renovation) it reopened in September in the brand’s new “espresso bar” format. In addition to a front-facing counter, that space includes a green leather banquette that spans one wall and two seating nooks with built-in desks and stools looking out onto the street.

Starbucks’ leadership hopes the design – part of its corporate-wide “Back to Starbucks” revitalization plan – will help propel the coffee chain into “a cozier, more profitable era,” Fast Company wrote.

Click here for more information and images of Starbucks’ new-look locales in New York and Los Angeles.

VMSD Staff

Drawing on more than 125 years of history serving the retail design market, VMSD magazine provides retail professionals with the most up-to-date, innovative retail design ideas and industry news through its industry-leading magazine, website, social media channels and bulletins.

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