Shanghai opens its 1000th Starbucks store

Starbucks is going to open its 6,000th Store in the Chinese mainland which is also its 1000th in Shanghai on Friday (Sept 30), the global beverage chain announced on Tuesday.

Located at Shanghai Lippo Plaza in Huangpu district, the new store sits at the same building where the coffee chain operator opened its first store in the city more than two decades ago.

The launch of the store makes Shanghai become the first city around the world to have 1,000 Starbucks stores.

"As Starbucks celebrates our 6,000th store in China, we are deeply humbled to return to the place where we opened our first store in Shanghai," said Leo Tsoi, chief executive officer of Starbucks China.

"It has been a privilege to share our love for coffee with our local customers, and contribute to the development of China's coffee culture and its specialty coffee industry over the past two decades. We treasure the strong connections we have built, and will never stop innovating new coffee products and experiences to delight our customers and earn their support every day," Tsoi said.

The number of cafe's in Shanghai reached 7,857 as of June 30, much more than that of New York, London, or Tokyo, according to an analysis on coffee consumption from online food ordering and delivery service provider Meituan.

As beneficiary of China growth story, the company expects to operate 9,000 stores across 300 cities in China by 2025, which means the coffee giant must open one new store nearly every nine hours in China for the next three years.

To commemorate the milestone, Starbucks is going to launch a Shanghai Coffee in Crema Ristretto style, which is also its first city-themed handcrafted coffee creation in China, as a tribute to the city and its coffee lovers. The beverage will be available across all Starbucks stores in the city from Wednesday, Sept 28.

The Shanghai Lippo Plaza store is also the latest addition to Starbucks' growing portfolio of greener stores in China. From design to construction and operations, it incorporates sustainability solutions to achieve reductions in carbon, water and waste.