Even the massively popular coffee chain itself wasn’t expecting such a positive response, prompting temporary closure less than half a year after opening.
It was with great fanfare that, in November, Starbucks Japan opened its first-ever branch on a Shinkansen station platform. With the coffeehouse chain popular all over Japan, the idea of a branch right where travelers board the bullet train, so that they can sip their Starbucks as they zip around the country, made a lot of sense.
However, scarcely four months since the opening of the branch on the Shinkansen platform of Shin Yokohama Station in the city of Yokohama, Starbucks has announced that it will be closing. That might seem shocking, given the chain’s enviable record of success, but the Shinkansen platform Starbucks isn’t closing because it didn’t have enough customers, but because it attracted more customers than even Starbucks itself was expecting, and so renovations, ahead of a reopening, have been swiftly greenlit.
To be honest, from the start it felt like the Shin Yokohama Shinkansen Starbucks was at least in part a concept test. Though the station is part of the Tokaido Shinkansen high-speed rail line that connects Tokyo with Kyoto and Osaka, Shin Yokohama is much smaller than some of the other stations along the route. The initial version of the Shinkansen platform Starbucks is of a very modest size, only about as big as a train platform kiosk or standing noodle stand, and its menu is pared down quite a bit compared to standard Starbucks branches, with only a few basic brewed coffees room-temperature snacks.
▼ We visited to try it out for ourselves in December.
Now that Starbucks has confirmed that fans will visit a Shinkansen platform location, it can start expanding on its scale and offerings. “Far more people than we’d imagined have made use of [the Shinkansen platform branch], and it has opened our eyes to opportunities to improve their Starbucks experience,” says the company in its announcement of the closure and renovations. “Through taking this time to evolve our operations and the enjoyable services we provide, we will return offering richer, more vibrant coffee experiences to all of our visitors at the moment they start their journeys.”
The last day for the current Shin Yokohama Shinkansen platform Starbucks, before it closes for renovations, will be April 25. The reopening is tentatively scheduled for June, but the company says it take longer, depending on how quickly construction work progresses. The speed with which the Shin Yokohama branch exceeded expectations also suggests that Starbucks will be looking to expand the concept to platforms at other Shinkansen Stations as well.
Source: Starbucks Japan
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