Starbucks is Right on Target
Consumers with a Jones for a Vanilla Crème Frappuccino will need look no further than their local Target store in the near future. According to a Dow Jones Newswires’ report, Target and Starbucks have reached an agreement to put a Starbucks coffee shop in all new Target locations as well as many existing stores beginning next fall.
The new coffee shops, according to unnamed sources, will be operated by Target on Target-owned floor space. Each location within Target, “will be fully outfitted with signage and decorations bearing the Starbucks logo, and will serve food and snacks in addition to coffee, just as stand-alone Starbucks coffee shops do.”
There is no word yet on how or if this rumored deal will affect the Starbucks shops that currently lease space in all SuperTarget stores.
Moderator’s Comment: Are Target and Starbucks perfect
together?
Target and Starbucks already have a history together with
94 shops being operated in the SuperTarget locations. This deal works out to
a win-win-win (unless you’re a consumer like RW members that have expressed
a preference for DD’s coffee).
Our only real concern, were we in Target management, would
be if a Starbucks in every store would give consumers the impression that we
were too upscale. If Target could deliver the super-premium Starbucks brand
experience at discounted prices, then this concern would go away. [George
Anderson – Moderator]