The World’s Biggest Starbucks Opened in Shanghai
China has become Starbucks’ fastest-growing market. Their sales there went up by 8% since last year the same quarter, as noted by CNN. Starbucks has become like a sort of status symbol amongst the middle class in China, used to demonstrate sophistication and luxury.
The giant cafe represents the big bet it has placed on a country that, until recently, much preferred tea. Starbucks has opened more than 3,000 stores in the country and plans to have 5,000 in four years.

“This is a show store,” John Gordon, a restaurant analyst at Pacific Management Consulting, told CNN. “The point is to be in a highly, highly visible, touristy where there’s foot traffic, offices and urban housing in order to promote the brand.”
In a sign of the times, Starbucks partnered with Chinese tech giant Alibaba to aggressively promote the Shanghai store opening online.
Customers can book coffee tasting experiences on Alibaba’s e-commerce site and also buy special Starbucks Reserve coffee and related products tied to the store’s launch.
The store’s boasting rights as the world’s largest won’t last long, though. The company plans to open a 43,000-square-foot location on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue in 2019, the Chicago Tribune reported.

