跳出拼开店数量的老路 星巴克“千店千面”探索咖啡新竞争逻辑｜新消费观察

Brief (coffeeyo.com): Starbucks China has opened its new-generation flagship, the Starbucks Reserve Xingyifang, at Beijing SKP — the latest expression of its “a thousand stores, a thousand faces” strategy. As store openings and closures nearly cancel each other out industry-wide, the company is betting on differentiated formats rather than sheer store count.

By Wu Yujia, Cover News

On September 16, the latest result of the “a thousand stores, a thousand faces” strategy in a landmark retail setting — Starbucks China’s new-generation flagship, the Starbucks Reserve Xingyifang — officially opened at Beijing SKP. It brings together Reserve coffee, Italian desserts, SKP-exclusive “Ode to Milan” merchandise and the first nationwide showing of the “Global Inspiration Collection” gifts, creating a destination that blends coffee culture, lifestyle aesthetics and premium gifting.

Competition in China’s coffee market has become fierce over the past two years. Figures from the food-service database Canyan put the total number of coffee shops nationwide at about 227,000. Between May 2025 and July 2026, the industry opened roughly 53,000 new stores, yet net additions came to just 1,065 — closures have almost caught up with openings, and the sector is reshuffling fast.

The contest has moved beyond who can open stores fastest or price lowest. Luckin has expanded through scale and supply-chain strength; Cotti is adjusting the pace of its franchise rollout; Starbucks is trying to hold on to the “third space” through scenarios and culture. Back-end supply chain and quality control stay uniform, while front-of-house space, store format and experience are localised — flagships build the brand, smaller formats capture sites, and the company steps away from the old habit of competing purely on store count.

Each of these formats answers to a different business logic. Reserve flagships in the core commercial districts of higher-tier cities carry brand presentation and check-in appeal. Standard stores in county-level markets drive brand penetration. Compact Xinglifang units and mobile coffee carts in residential communities, office buildings and scenic areas lower the investment per store and pick up fragmented locations. Cultural-tourism and intangible-heritage themed stores come with built-in destination appeal, drawing visitors who make a special trip and lifting food and merchandise sales, which in turn supports average transaction value.

Industry observers say the core logic of “a thousand stores, a thousand faces” is a shift from chasing store volume to deepening the quality of each store and the breadth of scenario coverage. Distinctive stores also face practical tests, however: customised refurbishments cost more to design and operate than standardised ones. Whether differentiated experiences can be turned into a replicable profit model — rather than fading into a short-lived social-media check-in craze — remains to be proven by the market. Ultimately, whether the model works will depend on whether heritage- and tourism-themed stores can build steady footfall and repeat purchases.

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