Starbucks to Open Next Evolution of Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouses in San Antonio and Miami; Innovative Retail Stores Showcase the Full Integration of Coffee Expertise and Music Discovery with the Starbucks Experience
Business Wire | 2 hours 38 minutes ago
SEATTLE, SAN ANTONIO & MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 2005-- Extensive Music Inventory Offers More than One Million Digital Tracks to Sample and Burn
Starbucks (Nasdaq:SBUX) Hear Music announced today that the next evolution of the Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouse will open on Monday, Dec. 19, 2005, on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. An additional location will open in South Beach (Miami), Fla., in early 2006.
These additions to the Starbucks retail portfolio further extend the concept of the initial Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouse, which opened in Santa Monica, Calif., in March 2004. The new stores represent the full integration of a classic coffeehouse experience with an extensive digital and physical music inventory and underscore the Company's steadfast commitment to extending its Entertainment initiative. The unrivalled combination results in a compelling third place destination for customers to connect over coffee as well as explore, discover, personalize and buy quality music in a warm and inviting environment.
"Starbucks has changed the rules of engagement for the music industry," said Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman. "By fully integrating the Starbucks Experience with the discovery of music, the new Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouses offer a music retail environment unlike any other and represent a significant milestone for the Company."
"The new Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouses truly transform the way consumers discover and acquire music, both physically, through our CD inventory, and digitally, through our media bars," added Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment. "We're building upon the success of the Santa Monica Coffeehouse, by incorporating customer feedback to extend the experience even further by adding enhanced ambiance, more space and new technology."
Starbucks Hear Music has been recognized as a significant force in the music industry over the past year. Highlights include coreleasing the triple platinum, GRAMMY(R) Awardwinning Ray Charles Genius Loves Company album in collaboration with Concord Records; achieving the Company's first simultaneous global CD release, Herbie Hancock Possibilities, which has been nominated for two 2005 GRAMMY(R) Awards, marking the second year in a row in which an album Starbucks Hear Music coreleased has received multiple GRAMMY(R) nominations; and successfully securing highprofile exclusives from established artists such as Bob Dylan. Starbucks Hear Music also launched its inaugural Hear Music(TM) Debut CD series featuring Antigone Rising, with resulting sales that clearly validate the Company's ability to successfully discover and introduce emerging artists. These successes, supported by Starbucks Hear Music's marketing alliances with XM Satellite Radio (Hear Music(TM) Channel 75), TMobile and United Airlines have all contributed to enhancing the Starbucks Experience for the Company's valued customers.
"A coffeehouse ambiance plus established and emerging music technologies equal an innovative way for the music industry to connect with consumers," said Susan Kevorkian, Program Manager, IDC Consumer Markets: Audio. "It gives music lovers who may not otherwise be reached through traditional channels the opportunity to discover and buy new music over a cup of coffee."
The San Antonio and Miami Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouses will carry an extensive physical inventory of CDs and will include a music selection that has been handpicked by the Starbucks Hear Music content team to appeal to local and regional tastes in each market.
The new coffeehouses will also feature the next generation of the Hear Music(TM) media bars, a service that provides customers with an easy, fun, selfservice way to discover and customize music on CDs. The new Hear Music(TM) media bars offer more than one million songs digitally nearly a fivefold increase over the selection offered on the previous version. Customers can use these enhanced media bars, 35 in the San Antonio Coffeehouse and 33 in the Miami Coffeehouse, as both listening stations to sample music and as burning stations to create custom CDs or burn an album in minutes. The media bars will also allow customers to listen to any physical CD in the store by simply scanning the bar code. The price to burn a custom CD at the Miami and San Antonio locations will be the same as it is in the Santa Monica location: $8.99 for the first 7 songs, and $.99 for each additional song.
The new Hear Music(TM) media bars boast technology with increased capacity and an unparalleled overall user experience. Externally, the tablet and stylus interface were replaced with a touch screen format, and internally, changes were made to the navigation system. New functionality has been added, as well as a feature that allows users to store a song list on a Starbucks card that can be burned during another coffeehouse visit. The media bars' quicker response time enables speedier interaction and a worldclass user experience.
The new Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouses also feature innovative instore merchandising and were created with a quality, personalized music experience in mind. The layouts of the new coffeehouses allow for more CD facings covers on display and emphasize Starbucks Hear Music's role as a curator to help customers discover quality music they might not otherwise be exposed to. Combined, the physical and digital music offerings at the Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouses provide an unprecedented breadth and depth in selection of music.
The San Antonio Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouse is located at 111 West Crockett Street, San Antonio, Tex., in the heart of the Riverwalk. With more than 4,100 square feet of retail space and an additional 1,000 square feet of patio space, the San Antonio Coffeehouse will provide ample room for customers to browse the physical inventory, sample songs digitally, burn custom CDs at one of the 35 Hear Music(TM) media bars and experience the fullyintegrated Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouse concept. The store layout and design as well as display facings and music selection will all reflect the influence of the San Antonio culture and local music scene. The same can be said for the Miami Coffeehouse, which will be located in South Beach at 605 Lincoln Road, Miami, Fla., and will feature more than 3,300 square feet of retail space and 33 Hear Music(TM) media bars.
Starbucks assessed many different variables when selecting the next markets for Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouses, including location, foot traffic, the music culture of the city, population of tourists and residents, and visibility for these unique stores. Based on these criteria, the Company found San Antonio's Riverwalk, and Miami's Lincoln Road to be ideal locations. Both the San Antonio and Miami locations have been tailormade for each market, not only through the architectural design, but also with music selected with regional preferences in mind.
Starbucks sought out prominent architects Charles Gwathmey and Kang H. Chang of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates. Their imaginative approach takes the original concept of the Santa Monica Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouse to a new level.
"We were charged with creating a new prototype store that combined music and coffee," said Charles Gwathmey, Principle of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates. "The architecture, environment and image transform the existing experience while still acknowledging the incredible Starbucks legacy. In both the Miami and San Antonio Coffeehouses we were able to fulfill these aspirations in very different existing spaces. Ultimately, the goal is to replicate the primary components in any space, always maintaining the new Starbucks Hear Music vision and integrity. Design must and can accomplish that goal."
"Is it a Starbucks with a Hear Music store in it, or a Hear Music store with a Starbucks? We believe it's a cohesive environment for the customers to enjoy both the coffee and the music experience," added Kang H. Chang, Associate of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates. "Our initial vision was to create freestanding listening carrels, allowing one to discover music through the media bars as well as pick up the physical CDs that surround the carrels. It is a total integration of the new and old technology of purchasing music with a Latte."
About Starbucks Hear Music
Founded in 1990, and acquired by Starbucks Coffee Company in 1999, Starbucks Hear Music is the Sound of Starbucks. Starbucks Hear Music is dedicated to creating a new and convenient way for consumers to discover, experience and acquire all genres of great music through its CD compilations and music programming for Starbucks coffeehouses worldwide, as well as its innovative partnerships with other music labels to produce, market and distribute both exclusive and nonexclusive music. In 2004, Starbucks Hear Music launched a 24hour digital music channel with XM Satellite Radio (XM Channel 75), the Hear Music(TM) Coffeehouse in Santa Monica where customers can select from over 15,000 CDs or burn their own custom mixes, and the Starbucks Hear Music(TM) media bars, a service that offers custom CD burning at select Starbucks retail locations in Seattle and Austin. Starbucks Hear Music(TM) CDs are featured at Hear Music and Starbucks retail locations, as well as online at www.starbucks.com/hearmusic.
About Starbucks Coffee Company
Starbucks Corporation is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world, with more than 10,000 retail locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. The Company is committed to offering the highest quality coffee and the Starbucks Experience while conducting its business in ways that produce social, environmental and economic benefits for communities in which it does business. In addition to its retail operations, the Company produces and sells bottled Frappuccino(R) coffee drinks, Starbucks DoubleShot(R) coffee drink, and a line of superpremium ice creams through its joint venture partnerships. The Company's brand portfolio provides a wide variety of consumer products innovative superpremium Tazo(R) teas and exceptional compact discs from Starbucks Hear Music enhance the Starbucks Experience through bestofclass products. The Seattle's Best Coffee(R) and Torrefazione Italia(R) Coffee brands enable Starbucks to appeal to a broader consumer base by offering an alternative variety of coffee flavor profiles.
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