As America slowly begins to emerge from the coronavirus shutdown, Starbucks has announced 90% of its company-owned stores will be pumping out the coffee again by June.
However, the Starbucks experience will remain different for the foreseeable future. In most locations, there will be no more sitting, sipping, and chatting on Starbucks' comfy sofas and easy chairs.
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson noted, about half of the company's stores remain closed, and as locations open, they will be limiting to mobile ordering through drive-in, or hand-offs at the door.
"We have a contact-less handoff that's at the entryway," he said. "And in other cases, we've got mobile order for drive-thru."
In addition, Starbucks will be available for delivery through Uber Eats, he told Forbes.
Patrick Grismer, the company's chief financial officer, said there will be modified hours, a new "entryway hand-off" system and possible curbside service where parking is available, CNN reported.
Like most other companies, Starbucks has taken a hit due to the coronavirus, and expects the next quarter to be even worse. Sales slumped by 10%, with a 13% decrease in the number of transactions, Forbes reported.
"We do expect the impacts to persist for a longer period of time as we move through the monitor-and-adapt phase," Grismer told CNN.
"We are ready for this new, dynamic period," Johnson said on the Starbucks website. "More than 60% of our store formats in the U.S. include a drive-thru, and approximately 80% of all customer orders were placed 'on-the-go' even prior to COVID-19."
Johnson noted the company will be monitoring coronavirus local data and will use this information to customize individual store activities, which might include limited seating in some locations.
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