MILAN – Blue Bottle Coffee officially made its debut in mainland China by opening its first store in in Shanghai on February 25. According to reports, the American coffee chain backed by Nestlé selected a historic venue by Suzhou Creek, a river that passes through the Shanghai city center.
Chinese social platform showed pictures of long queues in front of the store. Customers said it would take up to “five hours” to buy the coffee in the store, local media report.
The location reflects the architectural language of many foreign blue bottle stores, such as the Qingcheng Baihe store in Japan, transformed from an old warehouse.
In fact, it is reported that the design of blue bottle’s first store in the mainland was carried out by Banchang architecture office, which was once responsible for Blue Bottle’s first stores in Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong.
While retaining the traditional elements such as clear water brick wall nodes, lattice doors and windows, the interior was built into a simple wind space with white as the main tone.
The two-storey, vintage-looking building houses a selection of classic drip coffee and its signature espresso-based drinks. It also provides snacks inspired by an iconic portfolio from its worldwide operations.
The Oakland-based chain has also started selling coffee beans and merchandise online in China.
Shanghai had the most coffee shops of any city globally by January 2021, with more than 6,900 coffee shops, according to a study by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University quoted by China Daily.
