Introduction:Luckin Coffee has built its first flagship store in Zhejiang at Tianyi Square in Ningbo, featuring a 400-square-meter black-and-gold two-story design comparable to its Xiamen flagship. During the opening, the presence of numerous staff in blue uniforms guiding customers to try the gashapon machines led to the misconception that the barista team had been expanded—however, they were actually senior management members acting as customer service representatives. This article analyzes the interior highlights and equipment setup of this flagship store, which is only second in size to Xiamen’s, and reveals key on-site observations regarding whether an automatic pour over machine made an appearance.
The Chinese chain coffee brand Luckin recently unveiled its second nationwide and first in Zhejiang Province flagship store, located by the scenic waterside near Crystal Street at Tianyi Square in Ningbo. Situated in the heart of the urban commercial district, the store boasts nearly 400 square meters of black-and-gold themed two-story space, appearing to float above the water. It is only smaller than the first flagship in Xiamen and has become a key showcase for the brand in East China.
On the opening day, the atmosphere was lively, and many customers were surprised to find numerous staff dressed in Luckin’s signature blue uniforms guiding them to interact with facilities such as the gashapon machines outside the bar area. Due to the large number of staff, onlookers even exclaimed, “It looks like there are at least 50 baristas,” mistakenly believing the flagship store had significantly expanded its barista team.
However, according to clarifications from brand insiders, these “staff” in blue uniforms were actually management members from various regional offices who came specially to the new store for the celebration event. They experienced the new store’s facilities and services firsthand in the role of regular customers. With a large number of visitors, the scene became somewhat chaotic, prompting these management members to step in and assist with hospitality, leading to misunderstandings among many customers.
In fact, as the largest flagship store in Luckin’s national network after the Xiamen headquarters, the Ningbo new store features many highlights in both decoration and setup. The store adopts a bold black-and-gold color theme, and its two-story layout not only offers spacious seating areas but also specially designed interactive spaces for customers. The brand has placed high importance on this flagship location in Zhejiang, generating great anticipation among local coffee enthusiasts since the renovation period.
Regarding customer curiosity about the staffing at the bar, according to brand information, similar to the operational model at the Xiamen flagship, during peak hours the bar area typically deploys more than ten baristas to handle the customer flow, along with dedicated cleaning staff to maintain the environment, ensuring customers enjoy a comfortable drinking experience. Therefore, even though the exact number of staff at the Ningbo flagship hasn’t been publicly disclosed, it is reasonable to expect additional personnel in the nearly 400-square-meter space to maintain service quality.
Additionally, many netizens are also curious whether this new flagship, like the Xiamen first store, has introduced an automatic pour over coffee machine to offer more refined hand pour options. As of now, Luckin has not released any official promotions regarding such equipment for the Ningbo flagship, and based on customer feedback on-site, no dedicated pour over section or equipment has been found in the store. Therefore, the unique features and highlights of this flagship store may still need to be discovered through personal on-site exploration.
In summary, the Ningbo Luckin flagship store is not only a significant strategic move for the brand in the Zhejiang market, but its black-and-gold design style, nearly 400-square-meter space, and the amusing episode of management personally serving customers on opening day have all become hot topics among industry insiders and consumers alike. For coffee enthusiasts planning to visit, it’s worth keeping an eye out for any special equipment such as an automatic pour over machine—you might just encounter a pleasant surprise.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
