Starbucks to open its biggest store yet, so people can really experience their coffee

Starbucks Corp. is opening a sprawling new Roastery-branded store in New York’s Meatpacking District, part of a push to bolster growth with larger locations that offer experiences to customers.

The cafe will be its biggest ever: a 20,000-square-foot (1,900-square-meter) store at 61 Ninth Ave., Starbucks said in a statement on Tuesday. The location, near Chelsea Market, won’t be ready until 2018.

It’s a combination of a roasting facility and cafe that tries to teach customers more about coffee brewing and bean origins.

Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz has said he wants to bring the Roastery model to cities globally, a bet that a new format can bring fresh vigor to the company. It’s a combination of a roasting facility and cafe that tries to teach customers more about coffee brewing and bean origins. Starbucks has experimented with other store models: Last year, it started opening smaller-format, express locations in the U.S.

The first Roastery opened in 2014 in Starbucks’ hometown of Seattle. That store is currently the only one, though other outlets are planned.

“In New York, we want to take elements from what we originally created and build something even bigger and bolder, celebrating coffee and craft in a completely unique and differentiated way,” Schultz said in the statement.

The company is seeing more competition from local and regional coffee shops, which often showcase local roasting and coffee-bean origin information. Still, Starbucks has been able to lock in customers with its rewards program that has millions of U.S. members. The stock has climbed 27 percent in the past year.

The coffee chain is developing the New York store with Vornado Realty Trust and Aurora Capital. The site, which used to be Prince Lumber, was purchased by the joint venture in 2015.