In early March, Tim Pfeiffer, senior vice president, Global Design accepted four design awards at the Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.) awards ceremony held in Las Vegas, NV. The awards recognized our new store designs that were released over the last year. Winning these awards is a significant achievement in the retail design community. But, more importantly, it celebrates the innovation of our new store designs and our commitment to building eco-conscious stores.
Our store designs were recognized in the following categories:
Specialty Food Retailer: Grand Prize (TIE)
15th Ave Coffee & Tea, Starbucks Corporation, Seattle, WA 
Starbucks went back to basics in its 15th Avenue location with a rustic combination of salvaged barnwood, old warehouse lighting, rusted wire chandeliers adorned with clothespins, and large photographs depicting coffee and tea rituals. Wall treatments range from individually adhered book pages to stripped metal ceiling tiles. Open bins filled with whole bean coffee and burlap sacks from the Starbucks roasting plant filled with coffee give a fresh-from-the-field atmosphere. A hand-chalked map highlights the coffee regions as the backdrop for a hanging vintage scale piled with green coffee beans, making it clear that in this store, coffee is king.
Roy Street Coffee & Tea, Starbucks Corporation, Seattle, WA 
This Starbucks location focuses on the coffee house culture and relates to the location's film and art community while paying tribute to the local architecture. Concrete floors are paired with custom, tailored velvet furniture and drapery. Salvaged barnwood walls are combined with antique furniture pieces to bring warmth and comfort, as well as maintaining an eclectic identity. At 3,600 square feet, intimate seating areas with sliding old factory window partitions and velvet drapery create private zones.
Sustainability - Tenant Improvement: Grand Prize
Starbucks Coffee, Disney Paris, Disney Village, Chessy, France 
The first international Starbucks store to apply for LEED® certification, this project registered for Platinum in the pilot LEED® for Retail-CI program. Mixed-mode ventilation equipment in the 3,068-square-foot space signals trained store personnel when and how far to open windows. National convection exhausts heat through an existing tower. Dual-language wayfinding educates customers, with trained personnel ready to share more. Regional materials include renewable poplar wood farmed and manufactured in France and salvaged wine barrels and champagne racks.
Sustainability Specialty Awards: Creative Use of Reused Materials
Roy Street Coffee & Tea, Starbucks Corporation, Seattle, WA 
More than half the furnishings in this store are reused. Salvaged doors refinished by local artists welcome customers. Residential moulding and a wooden crate add visual interest as a wall treatment. Hardwood flooring from Starbucks headquarters clads a bar topped with reclaimed stone. A sliding door made from a warehouse window partitions space for a private room. Salvaged barn wood warms up walls, while inviting antique furniture is around community tables incorporating found items.
Special Awards: Best Wall Treatment
Starbucks Coffee, 1st & Pike, Seattle, WA 
Highlighting all things coffee and echoing the first Starbucks store located nearby, Starbucks merchandise wall features a tapestry sewn from coffee bags from the local roasting plant. Lincrusta wall covering, a deeply embossed wallcovering made of natural materials (primarily wood flour and gelled linseed oil), was used as wainscot throughout the store. Repurposed materials and distressed finishes help contribute a nostalgic, time-worn patina to the space.
Design elements from each of these store designs are being incorporated into new Starbucks Coffee renovations and new stores globally. This is only the beginning of what we continue to achieve and demonstrate through each store design, bringing the soul of Starbucks to partners and customers by creating and sustaining inspirational and environmental experiences. Congratulations to all of the partners who were instrumental in the creation of these stores and design concepts.
About A.R.E.
The Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.) is a Hollywood, Fla.-based non-profit trade association representing the retail environments industry. More than 800 member companies include store fixture suppliers, retail design firms, suppliers of visual merchandising products, and suppliers of materials and equipment for the retail environments industry. Member capabilities include importing, exporting, consolidating, installing, project management, engineering, design, and more.