In an shift from its urban roots, coffee giant Starbucks will be building hundreds of new stores with drive-through windows in suburban and rural areas throughout the US. The Wall Street Journal reports that Starbucks is gambling that its upscale image can survive the fast-food innovation pioneered by its rivals Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s.
Drive-through service is also an important factor in Starbucks’s rollout of hot breakfast sandwiches in some markets. Breakfast menu items contribute as much as a quarter of some chains’ sales, but Starbucks executives steadfastly maintain their stores aren’t competing against the likes of Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonalds. But Starbucks’ new drive-through strategy appears to validate Dunkin’ Donuts’ focus on convenience and speed, which the Boston-based company has emphasized since it began concentrating its business on coffee and breakfast back in 2003.
Starbucks Corp. is building hundreds of new Starbucks caf?ɬ©s this year with drive-through windows, a fast-food industry innovation pioneered by McDonald’s Corp. decades ago. To many car-bound customers, it’s an innovation whose time has come. “I wouldn’t have stopped at Starbucks if it wasn’t a drive-through,” said Dan Fachner, president of the Icee Co., a convenience-store beverage supplier, who had just picked up a “Grande” black coffee at an Ontario, Calif., Starbucks not far from his office.
Drive-through windows nudge Starbucks into closer competition with McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Brands Inc.’s Dunkin’ Donuts and other fast-food chains offering lower prices and faster service. “We are flattered that Starbucks is beginning to follow in our footsteps,” says John Dawson, Dunkin’ Brands’ chief development officer, noting that his company has served drive-through coffee for more than 25 years.
According the the WSJ, Starbucks customers are already complaining about long lines, a cheapened image and slow service resulting from the introduction of drive-through windows at some stores. It also complicates the company’s efforts to sell whole-bean coffees, CDs and other merchandise that together account for a growing slice of sales.
Source: Wall Street Journal