The Starbucks in Chidlom is the perfect place to meet with your friends, get caffeinated and catch up before a long day of shopping at all the stores in the area. Do you ever wonder why a Starbucks is the first place you think of to meet up with friends and family?
Of course, you probably have to specify which Starbucks to meet at according to which area of Bangkok you’re meeting in. Currently, the world’s largest chain of coffeehouses has over 32,000 stores in 83 countries. Bangkok alone is home to 221 stores, with the vast majority of them clustered around the mass transit systems, the BTS, MTR, and Airport link of Bangkok.
This means that Starbucks is tuned into the commuting habits and lifestyles of their Bangkok customers and are well-positioned to serve the needs of these busy city-dwellers. Take the Starbucks in Chidlom, for example. This store is located in the Mercury Ville Chidlom shopping centre, a bright, modern shopping centre located within a 5-minute walk of the Chidlom BTS station.
Convenient Meeting Spot
The Starbucks in Chidlom offers a warm, casual, and inviting atmosphere to meet your friends, co-workers, or family. Many of these people will be travelling by one of the popular raid transit systems of the city, and so a Starbucks offers the ideal place to meet and plan your day.
Unlike many of the fast-food restaurants that also are abundant in Bangkok, Starbucks offers more subdued lighting and a more comfortable and quieter atmosphere that’s conducive to conversation. And this is no happy accident.
Designed for Conversation
The founders of the chain realised that one of the reasons that coffeehouses were so popular in the chain’s hometown of Seattle, Washington, is because coffee has traditionally been a part of any meetings. Any important or casual meeting has always taken place over a cup of coffee or tea.
There are also a lot of startups in Seattle (The area is the home of Microsoft). These entrepreneurs got in the habit of meeting with investors, technicians and programmers in the city’s coffeehouses because they often were working out of their bedrooms, garages or cramped basements.
By creating oases of conversation and quiet, the founders of the chain designed the perfect décor for their customer’s needs. The chain was also one of the first businesses to offer free Wi-Fi in their stores, which added value for the many customers working in the tech industry in Seattle.
Branching Out
By offering quality products and a comfortable place to savour them, Starbucks conquered the world. Today, walk into the Starbucks in Chidlom and look at the menu of coffees, tea, fruit drinks, fresh pastries and sandwiches. This is the menu that millions of coffeehouses worldwide have imitated but never mastered.
Because all these other chains failed to appeal to all their customer’s sensibilities and needs, they thought that serving a great cup of coffee would be enough. But the Starbucks in Chidlom is mainly a comfortable destination that happens to have a great menu. Starbucks appealed to the coffee drinker lifestyle, instead of just someone who wants a cup of coffee.