Starbucks Rolls Out Secret Shop to Test Redesign Options

At the start of this month, we reported on coffee chain Starbucks‘ decision to start a massive redesign program among many of their company-owned stores. Their plan was to make everything LEED-certified while simultaneously attempting to break away from the sterile, every-store-looks-the-same concept that had served them for the past decade of explosive growth. PSFK popped in when their first new store just opened in Seattle, called 15th Avenue E, which is almost completely devoid of any mention of being a Starbucks, save for the very bizarre sign on the door “Inspired by Starbucks” (if you’re trying to start anew or look like an independent, why on earth would you write such a thing?).