Introduction:Blue Bottle Coffee, a globally renowned specialty coffee brand, has expanded its retail presence to an airport for the first time, selecting Shanghai Pudong International Airport’s Terminal 2 to establish its world’s first official airport store. This new location focuses on take-away services without seating and introduces vending machines for the first time, offering instant coffee and classic coffee bean options. The new site happens to be where Starbucks was previously located, sparking discussions among many travelers and online users. This article takes you through the design philosophy, service model, customer feedback, and brand strategy behind this distinctive store.

Blue Bottle Coffee has long been known for its unique store location strategy, favoring historic buildings with stories and integrating local culture into shop designs to create a unique consumer experience. However, this time the brand breaks from tradition by situating its new outlet in a busy airport—Shanghai Pudong International Airport’s Terminal 2—which officially opened on January 11, becoming its first official airport store worldwide.

Located near Gate D75 for international, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan departures, the store was designed by Blue Bottle Coffee’s long-term design partner, Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. It continues the minimalist style, featuring a large white curved building adorned with the brand’s iconic blue bottle logo. The interior space is compact, with no seating provided, primarily offering take-away coffee services—ideal for hurried travelers.

To enhance purchasing convenience, this store has introduced a vending machine system in mainland China for the first time. Customers can self-serve to purchase Blue Bottle’s instant (concentrated) coffee and classic coffee bean varieties. Additionally, customers can pre-order via the Blue Bottle Coffee WeChat Mini Program for pickup at the store, reducing wait times—especially convenient for those catching flights.

Although the new store did not see the long queues typical of other Blue Bottle locations, it still attracted many travelers to stop and make purchases. However, some observant customers noticed that this spot used to be a Starbucks, and they had assumed it was just undergoing short-term renovations. They were surprised to find it replaced permanently by Blue Bottle Coffee, sparking considerable discussion online.

Some netizens commented that dining options in Pudong Airport are already limited, and that Blue Bottle not only lacks seating but also comes with higher prices. In comparison, they missed the variety that Starbucks offered, including sandwiches, croissants, salads, and bottled drinks. Some even bluntly stated: “I’d rather Starbucks stayed” or “Give me back Starbucks,” showing their attachment to the former brand.

In fact, as early as October last year, some travelers noticed that the Starbucks at Gate 73 of Pudong Airport had closed, with Blue Bottle Coffee moving in for renovation, which led to speculation about whether Starbucks was pulling out of the airport. But subsequent information revealed that Starbucks did not completely withdraw; instead, it relocated its outlet to the satellite concourse of the terminal to continue operations.

Since officially entering the Chinese mainland market in 2022, Blue Bottle Coffee has opened five official stores in Shanghai so far, including the Yutong Store, Panlong Tiandi Store, Zhangjiayuan Store, Qiantan Store, and Grand Gateway 66 Store. With the opening of the Pudong Airport store, Blue Bottle now has six locations in Shanghai, demonstrating the brand’s emphasis on this international metropolis.

However, in other major Chinese cities, Blue Bottle Coffee still appears in temporary formats such as pop-up stores, limited-time shops, or coffee trucks—for example, in Shenzhen, Beijing, and Hangzhou—without having established any official stores yet. The brand seems to be adopting a prudent strategy by using pop-up models to test market responses before deciding on further expansion. Therefore, those hoping to see permanent Blue Bottle outlets in other cities may need to wait patiently for some time.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.