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Stores of the Future: Concept Stores
Nike House of Innovation, Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo, Tim Hortons 130 King, Tiffany Cafe @ Cat Street, Zara (London) and Sonos are six examples of concept stores that demonstrate stores of the future.
STARBUCKS RESERVE ROASTERY TOKYO
- Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo is the largest Starbucks Reserve Roastery and the fifth of the company's roastery.
- The roastery’s first floor hosts its main coffee bar, it offers a variety of "unique coffees and coffee-based beverages". The baristas offer "one-on-one consultations, tailoring the bean, brew style and preparation to individual tastes".
- The baristas serve signature beverages such as a barrel-aged cold brew that have a rich flavor, are sweet and smooth but still retain the alcohol-like burn at the back of the throat.
- The Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo's second floor houses the Teavana tea bar, which offers 18 loose-leaf teas and other tea-based beverages.
- Its third-floor is a full-service Arriviamo bar that offers both coffee and tea-infused cocktails. It is features a Japanese twists on the standard classics and non-alcoholic options.
TIFFANY CAFE @ Cat Street
- Tiffany Cafe @ Cat Street in Japan is a six-level concept store that features Japan’s first Tiffany Cafe. It is the second of its kind in the world.
- The Tiffany Cafe @ Cat Street is more modern and casual with diner-like booths decorated in signature Tiffany Blue. The café serves breakfast that includes hot dogs, cheese pretzels and the signature Tiffany blue doughnuts.
- The other five levels of the cafe offer futuristic designs, with variety of areas for jewelry personalization, designed to appeal to young and creative people that frequent Harajuku.
- The cafe also has a jewelry vending machine and photo booth with a large Tiffany Blue backdrop that reads “Greetings from Tokyo”.
- The cafe offers "an exclusive collection of charms engraved with the Tiffany @ Cat Street logo (which also appears on the store’s facade) will be sold in limited quantities to celebrate the store’s opening". The charms are available in sterling silver and 18K rose gold, featuring a basic tag shape or a key shape.
TIM HORTONS 130 KING
- Tim Hortons 130 King (Toronto) is the first of the company's locations to feature its “innovation café” concept. This concept is a "modern representation of the Tim Hortons brand and a space to test new menu items and technology initiatives."
- Tim Hortons 130 King offers a "24 hours service, traditional menu items, a “brew bar” with seven different coffee brewing methods and made-to-order beverages, a new assortment of 12 “dream donuts,” four new flavors of “dream Timbits” bite-sized dough snacks, and an assortment of breakfast, soup and sandwich items."
- Tim Hortons 130 King also offers in-store technology that includes "a 98-inch 4K video wall that greet customers when they enter through the Exchange Tower, wireless charging integrated into seating throughout the store for compatible mobile devices, a dedicated mobile order pickup area and self-order kiosks, and a digital coffee education screen featuring new beverage innovations, brewing methods, and seasonal single-origin coffees."
- The store tests sustainability initiatives that include "coffee cups made with 30% post-consumer recycled material, strawless cold cup lid, paper straws and wooden stir sticks to help reduce single-use plastics, all-new china and glassware for dine-in customers, and fully recyclable take-out packaging, including cutlery that is 100% compostable."
NIKE'S House of Innovation
- Nike’s House of Innovation, located on 5th Avenue, requires customers to download the Nike App on order for them to enjoy the touchpoints in-store and get the most out of the experience.
- Customers can scan the QR code at the bottom of a mannequin for an item they like to view the available sizes and colors.
- The store allows customers to virtually shop and checkout instantly using the app in order to avoid waiting in line.
- The app also offers a customization bar that allows customers to create their own unique sneakers.
- The store has a floor that is dedicated to customizable apparel which allows customers to change the color of garments, switch out materials, and combine two different pieces of clothing into an entirely new apparel.
SONOS
- Sonos' In-Store Sonos Sound application connects multiple speakers in different rooms for a powerful customer experience.
- The store has a long corridor that is aligned with sound-proof booths designed to look like rooms of a home. Each wall of the booth symbolizes a room — living room, dining room, and kitchen.
- There is tablet in the center of the booth that allows customers to play with the Sonos Application. The software "connects the multiple speakers around the booth and allows customers to change songs, control some features such as sound, and also check the speakers in each room." (source 1).
ZARA (LONDON)
- Zara (London) is a pioneering digital store that uses high-tech to merge the online and physical store experience.
- The store offers customers a dedicated online area for purchasing and collecting online orders alongside automated collection points, which handle 2,400 orders simultaneously, where customers can scan the QR code or pin code on their e-receipt to allow orders to be delivered in seconds by way of a behind-the-scenes robotic arm.
- It also offers interactive mirrors equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID) that can detect items held by customers and provide more information and outfit suggestions to customers.
- The store also offers "a self-checkout area with a system that automatically identifies garments being purchased."