Shanghai’s 1,000th Starbucks Puts Focus on Sustainability, Technology

The new store features a minimalistic design and uses upcycled materials as artwork. Courtesy of Starbucks.

Shanghai, China, is becoming the first city in the world to have 1,000 Starbucks stores, and its newest store, set to open on Sept. 30, dons the brand’s latest technology and sustainability solutions.

Starbucks announced it will open the milestone store at Shanghai Lippo Plaza, where it opened its first Shanghai store more than 20 years ago. It joins the brand’s growing portfolio of “Greener Stores” and also incorporates leading digitalized operations, says Starbucks.

In the back-of-house, investments in digital technologies—like IoT sensors and automation tools—are designed to improve store efficiency. Starbucks says big data and machine learning algorithms also have been integrated to assist with inventory ordering and labor scheduling.

The new store also incorporates energy-efficient solutions for air conditioning, lighting, water usage and daily energy consumption, says the brand, to achieve reductions in carbon, water and waste. The employees’ aprons are even “green” in more ways than one; they’re made from recycled Starbucks cups.

As for the store’s look, Starbucks described it as clean, streamlined and minimalistic. Casework has been created from recycled straw material, and old green aprons were upcycled into artwork.

The store, which also marks the 6,000th in China, comes as the brand works toward opening 9,000 stores in the country by 2025. It hopes to have 2,500 “Greener Stores” among them.