A very different kind of Starbucks is on tap. It will serve regional wine and beer. It offers an expansive plate of locally made cheeses — served on china. The barista bar is rebuilt to seat customers up close to the coffee.
Most conspicuously, the place looks less like a Starbucks and more like a cafe that's been part of the neighborhood for years — yet that's "green" in design and decor. This is the calling card of independent java joints that have been eating and sipping away at Starbucks' evening business for decades. U.S. Starbucks stores get 70% of business before 2 p.m.
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The wake-up-in-the-morning company that invented the $4 cup of coffee is trying to reinvent itself as the hang-out-in-the-evening company, too, with mood lighting, heritage furnishings and wine at up to $9 a glass.
