Starbucks "Warming Up" To Drivethrus

Scene: A mom with four kids in the back of her minivan on the way to school and then on to work needs her morning caffeine fix.

Enter: Starbucks’ drivethru.

Customers are continuously seeking out the Starbucks locations that offer the convenience of drivethru locations.  "We have a habit of giving customers what they want, and when a customer has six kids in their car or their favorite pets and it's raining or snowing, that's creating an experience for them that will want to make them use a drivethru," said Jim Donald, Starbucks' president and chief executive.

The specialty coffee chain that once shunned the drivethru concept, for fear it might alienate customers who enjoy sipping lattes while listening to music in comfy chairs have since “warmed up” to the concept with the addition of 354 drivethrus during the last fiscal year.  Nationwide, Starbucks’ drivethrus total 1,065 which make up nearly 15 percent of their 7,300 US stores.

The 2005 fiscal year, which ended Oct. 2, marked the first time drivethrus comprised more than half of Starbucks' new company-operated stores -- those that aren't licensed in airports, hotels, grocery stores, etc.

The company now has drivethrus in every state except Vermont and Wyoming.

According to Donald, drivethrus will continue to add to Starbucks' bottom line, making up about half of the stores the company opens domestically over the next few years.