Concept Design | Product Development & Mgmt. | Supply Chain Strategy
Starbucks, Americas FF&E Catalog Reboot
New York, NY
After successfully developing FF&E palettes in several LATAM markets, Scott Mitchem was asked to take on the project for the Americas, which was long overdue. Serving as Americas Concepts Director for Interiors, he took on what was seen internally as an incredibly challenging and critically urgent effort.
Mr. Mitchem and his team successfully delivered the most comprehensive reboot of the package in company history, which by all accounts increased product durability, significantly lowered costs, and undeniably elevated design.
The project was focused on the core Starbucks stores, but the furniture and finishes that were developed also supported the design of Reserve® cafés such as the one pictured above, designed by Cal Young, Senior Designer, Dallas.
Today store designers use the products and programs created by Mr. Mitchem’s concepts team to design everyday cafés that look akin to Reserve stores and the company’s flagship Roasteries — at considerably less expense.
In total Mr. Mitchem was responsible for developing products and managing an annual buy of more than $50 million.
Credits: Americas Concepts Director Scott Mitchem; Concepts Design Managers Corrie Bell, Jay Keller, Angelica Valencia, and Jonah Wilcox-Healy; Program Manager Brian Collins; Concepts Coordinators Karina Yob and Lauren Williams; photos courtesy of Starbucks
Catalog Strategy & Inspiration Boards
The process of developing new FF&E collections for the Starbucks catalog started with assembling strategy and inspiration boards to guide the work, with wood finishes as a driving factor. A selection of four palette directions based on specific wood finishes are included below for reference: walnut, white oak, tzalam, and “grey,” which was sugar maple with an iron and vinegar acetate stain.
FF&E Palette Reboot Project Snapshot
The reinvention of the FF&E catalog at Starbucks was a massive undertaking that was long overdue, but the business and support functions to enable it required considerable problem solving while working at enormous scale. In the end, Mr. Mitchem and his concepts team delivered a reboot of depth and breadth unimagined at the project’s outset. The effort yielded safer, more durable products at significantly lower costs and was the catalyst of elevating design at Starbucks.
Additional Resources & Programs
There is no proverbial silver bullet, particularly inside a large corporate environment. In addition to reinventing the items in the FF&E catalog, the Starbucks concepts team developed peripheral programs to support the field design teams in a complete elevation of café design. These programs also accommodated strategic business initiatives like Reserve® stores without eroding design integrity, affecting budgets, or compromising safety.
Selected FF&E Catalog & High Profile Toolkit Items In Situ
Starbucks FF&E items were a combination of original designs by the concepts team or outside consultants and prerelease or existing items from a range of suppliers and brands that were reengineered to meet Starbucks’ price targets, durability requirements, and finish specs.
