Inside the reimagined Starbucks Pike Place
Starbucks transformed its much-visited original store to become The 1912 Pike Place Experience, an immersive journey rooted in history, coffee and connection.
One of the most visited spots in Seattle is an unassuming storefront on a cobblestone street.
In the window, there’s a vintage, brown sign with a siren encircled by the words, “Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices.”
Hundreds of thousands of customers from all over the world make the pilgrimage to the original Starbucks at Pike Place Market each year. In the summer, when the Market blooms with both fresh-cut flowers and crowds from the cruise ships docked nearby, the line of visitors waiting to get inside the historic Starbucks can sometimes stretch for hours.
But this week when the door to 1912 Pike opens, it will be on an entirely reimagined experience designed to improve both what it’s like to visit the original Starbucks, and what it’s like to work behind the storied counter there.
For visitors to the new 1912 Pike Place Experience, a new reservation-based entry system will reduce wait times and allow visitors to explore the Market and the city instead of standing in a long line. It will also mean a more impactful and intentional experience once they’re inside, including guidance from partners knowledgeable in coffee, the neighborhood and the history of the space.
It will also allow the Starbucks partners working behind the counter more of an opportunity to showcase their coffee craft and their gift for storytelling and connection.
I want a customer to walk away with more than a sense of ‘I just visited’ – but that ‘I had an experience, I had a feeling.’”
Sandy Roberts
“Starbucks as a brand – there’s an emotional connection, and this place should deliver that experience by opening up how customers journey through,” said Sandy Roberts, who started as a barista more than 20 years ago and now leads brand and cultural experiences for Starbucks. “I want a customer to walk away with more than a sense of ‘I just visited’ – but that ‘I had an experience, I had a feeling.’”
For more than a year, Roberts and her team have been quietly working behind the scenes to rethink how it feels to both visit and work in the tiny but iconic 960-square-foot space. The store serves a unique role for the brand, both a window into Starbucks and Seattle history, but also a touchstone for centering and celebrating coffee craft and community.
“This is where it all began,” Roberts said. “It’s such a story-rich environment.”
A reimagined visit
For visitors, the new 1912 Pike Place Experience begins when they arrive at the front door. Instead of joining the back of a line, they are greeted by a Starbucks partner, who will invite them to book a reserved time to return. Visitors can book ahead for up to 48 hours using the new queue management system, but currently only in person.
When their time slot arrives, visitors are invited inside and welcomed by the Pike Place Starbucks partners, who recently completed special training in Starbucks history and advanced coffee education to become brand and cultural ambassadors (just look for the Rachel the Pig pin on their aprons).
Brandon W., who has worked at the Pike Place store for two years, is one of them. “I recently read [Howard Schultz’s book] ‘Pour Your Heart into It’ … and I wrote down that this store was truly like the living, breathing heart of Starbucks,” he said.
He’s looking forward to hosting some of the coffee experiences planned for the space, like sharing samples of exclusive coffees.
I wrote down that this store was truly like the living, breathing heart of Starbucks,” he said.
Brandon W.
The beverage offerings at Pike Place are a big part of the reimagining. The store will offer a simplified menu of 30 core espresso beverages that highlight Starbucks heritage in coffee and beverage innovation (down from its former full menu of 160 beverages).
Beverage offerings include originals from Starbucks earliest days as a coffeehouse like Latte, Cappuccino and Espresso Macchiato along with others like Caramel Macchiato, which was created as a limited-time offering for the company’s 25th anniversary in 1996 and ended up creating an entirely new beverage category.
Another exclusive and history-rich menu item: Frappuccino® blended beverages with the original coffee and mocha flavors, which first launched in 1999, made with espresso shots like they were back in the day.
The store will stock bags of all the core coffees offered in North American coffeehouses as well as select Starbucks Reserve® coffees.
Roberts said a customer might decide to try some freshly roasted Pike Place Special Reserve, served as a pour-over, and enjoy their first few sips in the same spot where Starbucks founder Howard Schultz tried his first sip of coffee from Sumatra.
“The menu is now curated and intentional – we have built a story of our journey with the menu,” Roberts said. “This is truly taking it back to how we started.”
The story of coffee
At 1912 Pike, the air is once again filled with the aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans brewed as a pour-over by the cup, just as things were in the beginning. This is thanks to another new addition: Freshly roasted Starbucks Pike Place Reserve and Starbucks 1971 Roast™ coffee beans are now delivered weekly from the nearby Kent Roasting Plant and hand-scooped for customers to take home.
“I want people to know how excited our team is, and the genuine excitement of coffee and coffee knowledge that we have,” said Jas J., a brand and culture ambassador and eight-year Starbucks partner. “Partners have been able to … refine their craft and they’re so excited to show the customers that.”
Pike Place will feature rotating, exclusive beverages on the menu. This summer those include a Market Latte and a Market Tea Latte made with honey from nearby Pike Place Market vendor Sunny Honey Company. The menu will also feature a seasonal Pike Place Refresher beverage, which currently features a butterfly pea flower infusion, along with an international beverage, starting with Fuji Apple Camellia Garden Tea from Starbucks Asia Pacific.
The store will also offer visitors a new collection of merchandise available only at Pike Place, from tote bags and ball caps to mugs and Pike Place Bearista Bears.
Showcasing the Market
Seattle’s Pike Place Market is one of the city’s most popular destinations, drawing more than 10 million visitors each year. Since 1907, it’s operated as a working public market, with stalls filled daily with handmade goods and local produce. It’s a haven for tourists and locals alike – on any given day you can see office workers swinging by to pick up a fresh cinnamon donut or a bouquet of colorful flowers as well as cruise ship passengers watching fishmongers fling their daily catch.
The new queue management system will let customers spend time exploring the Market instead of waiting in line, and will also help prevent a long queue from disrupting nearby businesses.
“One of the favorite things our partners do is share where their favorite places are in the Market. They all have their little spots, right?” Roberts said. “This will help free up time for people to not only experience Starbucks, but also explore the rest of the Market.”
Back to Starbucks
The transformation of 1912 Pike Place was designed to prioritize the experience of both customers and partners while celebrating the company’s coffee heritage – which includes centering human connection. This is very much in step with the company’s Back to Starbucks efforts, Roberts said.
“To me, it’s about the best partner experience, the best customer experience,” Roberts said. “That’s what we are doing here.”
What is she most excited about? “Watching the partners get to do what they are so talented at doing – creating an experience through storytelling and sharing their coffee knowledge and beverage craft,” she said.
Heidi Peiper is writer and historian for Starbucks Stories. Her favorite drink is a double tall latte.
