"starbucks locations" news and stories

Ch-ch-ch-changes may be coming to a Starbucks near you. Known widely for their rapid expansion in the 1990's -- some would more pointedly describe it as "global domination" -- Starbucks is often viewed as the antithesis to local charm and character. Nevertheless, when Starbucks begins its nationwide store redesigns in late 2010, local relevance will be one of its top priorities, along with the celebration of coffee heritage and an overarching theme of environmental responsibility.

There are currently twelve prototype stores that reflect this "Starbucks Shared Planet" three-pronged mission, and they are all part of a U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Volume Certification pilot program (now that's a latte-guzzling mouthful). In short? While LEED was originally established to enable the green-certification of office buildings -- a time consuming and financially draining measure -- Starbucks has been working to create a system that would enable the certification of retail-store prototypes, so that once audited and approved by the USBGC, they would be able to replicate the certified process at all new or significantly renovated company-owned stores. The other pilot sites are in cities as varied as Seattle, Washington; Atlanta, Georgia; Toronto, Canada; Lisbon, Portugal; and Kyoto, Japan. This falls on the heels of the news that Starbucks recently opened a café concept store that is serving wine and beer and hosting musicians and film viewings. Will all these efforts allow them to shake that image of the evil corporate empire?