NORTH COVENTRY TOWNSHIP PA – Starbucks, the internationally-known vendor of coffees, beverages, and ready-to-eat foods, is preparing to open a new store in the Suburbia Shopping Center, 86 Glocker Way.
Equipment for ground preparation work was seen at the location late last week, and an nearby sign proclaims “Starbucks Coffee Coming Soon” to passing traffic. The store is being constructed on property described as an “undeveloped pad site,” which was part of the center’s plans about 20 years ago for a bank that was never built.
The project was approved by the township Board of Supervisors during its Oct. 10 (2023) meeting.
Starbucks currently operates two stores in the Upland Square shopping center, West Pottsgrove; three stores in Royersford zip codes, and one each in Gilbertsville, Collegeville, Phoenixville, and Oaks.
Engineering firm LTL Consultants Ltd., and traffic engineers McMahon Associates (now known as Bowman) worked with North Coventry officials to provide Starbucks’ proposed plans and a traffic study for township review, the supervisors’ meeting minutes reflect. The project likely will also result in traffic configuration changes within the Suburbia center, the minutes state.
Starbucks’ long-term strategy
Starbucks in November 2023 announced what it called a “long-term growth strategy” to further strengthen its brand, double the number of its customer-members during the next five years, increase efficiency and improve operations, and expand its global footprint to 55,000 stores by 2030.
In the U.S. alone, the company said, a total of about 16,300 stores should operating before the end of 2024. It anticipates a 4-percent net new U.S. store growth during the current fiscal year.
Of its new additions, Starbucks reportedly plans to build more “purpose-defined stores like pick-up, drive-thru only, double-sided drive-thru, and delivery-only” to “better meet our customers where they are.”
“To capture that demand we will build more new stores, with new formats, in new cities, and cities we’re already in,” according to Sara Trilling, executive vice president and president of Starbucks North America. “To be clear, Starbucks has not saturated the U.S. market,” she said.
Photo by Anton Ponomarenko on Unsplash, used by Travels With The Post under license
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