A waiter makes coffee at the Starbucks Roastery in Shanghai. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)
Nearly 110 baristas from 48 cities across China working at one coffee store is not an exaggeration. After all, the world's largest coffee chain's China unit said its store located at the new Disneytown at Shanghai Disney Resort will be its busiest location in the world.
Opening on Wednesday, the store is designed for families visiting the new Disneyland, which is estimated to have 25 million visitors a year.
Winnie Ma, a barista who is now the store manager at the Starbucks in Disneytown, was surprised to find visitors from Shanghai addressing her in her local dialect when she was receiving training at the company's stores last year in Anaheim and Orlando in the United States.
"They found out where I came from from my name tag," said Ma. "So I took this idea back to our store here in the Disney resort in Shanghai where every employee wears name tags with their hometown written on it."
She said by doing so, her colleagues can better interact and engage with visitors from their hometown or place nearby, creating a more intimate and friendly atmosphere.
The country's fourth flagship store and the 12th Starbucks has collaborated with Disney Resort, meaning the store will include new menu ordering options through a variety of mobile devices to help ease the expected large number of visitors.
Customers can order their favorite beverages and food using a mobile hand-held device available at the store or from their personal mobile devices.
John Boline, senior design director of Starbucks China, said he held a test run to make sure how to handle the flow of the traffic and maximize operational efficiency.
Boline is head of a design team comprised of local talent that design stores for China, with support from the company's headquarters in the US.
Belinda Wong, president of Starbucks China, said the store shows how committed the company is to the Chinese market－the largest international market for Starbucks.
"We are still in the early stage of developing the market in China and we have a long journey to go. We will bring the unique Starbucks Experience to even more customers in China."
