Four-Story Starbucks Coming to Mag Mile

The location, at 646 N. Michigan Ave., is currently a Crate & Barrel.

CHICAGO—Landlords with retail spaces to lease are always on the lookout for new concepts that can bring in curious people off the street. One of the most familiar retail brands in the US has a new concept, and is ready to bring it to the Magnificent Mile. Starbucks Coffee Co. said yesterday that in 2019 it will open a Starbucks Reserve® Roastery at the corner of N. Michigan Ave. and Erie St. This will represent the company’s third Roastery location in the US, following Seattle, which opened in December 2014, and New York City, which will open next year.

The outlet will be more than the usual coffee shop. The 43,000 square-foot space, currently home to a Crate & Barrel, will be the world’s largest Starbucks. And much like its flagship Seattle location, which was the most successful store opening in the company’s history, the four-story Chicago Roastery “will be a fully sensorial coffee environment dedicated to roasting, brewing and packaging its rare, small-batch Starbucks Reserve coffees from around the world.”