World's Biggest Starbucks Is No Longer in Seattle

Shanghai now boasts the biggest Starbucks in the world—an upmarket "Reserve Roastery" that, at 30,000 square feet, is more than 40 times bigger than the average apartment in the city. The establishment is the first Reserve Roastery outside the US, and it's almost twice as big as the previous record holder, a Roastery that opened in Seattle in 2014, CNN reports. China is now Starbucks' second-biggest market, with around 3,000 outlets across the country, about 10% of the world's total. Howard Schultz, the chain's executive chairman, says the new store will blend Starbucks' expertise with China's "rich, diverse culture."

The massive new Shanghai Starbucks includes numerous Chinese design touches, including a 90-foot coffee bar designed by a Chinese artist, Quartz reports. Engadget reports that the outlet also has high-tech features including an augmented-reality app that will animate and explain equipment like roasters and casks when smartphones are pointed at them. Starbucks—which opens a new store in China every 15 hours and expects the country to become its biggest market with a decade—plans to expand the Roastery concept to cities including New York and Tokyo, Bloomberg reports. A Roastery set to open in Chicago in 2019 is expected to be even bigger than the Shanghai store. (More Starbucks stories.)