The machines, [image-nocss] which grind their own beans, make lattes, mochas, chai teas, hot chocolates and drip coffees. There are 86 machines installed in Albertsons stores and eight other grocery chains in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Illinois, Wisconsin, Maryland and Tennessee. The machines take credit and debit cards, cash and coins, the report said.
Concordia Coffee, a Bellevue, Wash., coffee equipment maker, builds the self-serve kiosks and sells them to Coinstar for just under $40,000 per unit. Coinstar installs them in the stores and provides maintenance. The kiosks use Seattle's Best Coffee and are branded with the Seattle's Best logo. Store personnel handle refills of coffee beans and milkthe machines alert Concordia when they're running low, and Concordia sends grocery store staff a text message or e-mail.
The self-serve kiosks remove the labor costs of having a barista. Ehlers said customers pay 8% to 10% less than at a full-service espresso bar. The kiosks are smaller, too, Ehlers said, making them a better fit for grocery stores with space constraints. "This kind of thing can be plopped in," he told the paper, "and you can get people on the way in or way out."
Concordia CEO David Isett compared the full-service cafe to a bank branch and told the Puget Sound Business Journal: "We're the ATM. Fast, convenient service with a limited menu but comparable quality."
Patricia Edwards, a Seattle-based retail analyst for the investment consulting firm of Wentworth, Hauser and Violich, said she sees self-serve kiosks as part of Starbucks' overall strategy of creating a greater appreciation for espresso drinks, which in turn generates more traffic for Starbucks stores. But Edwards said she does not expect Starbucks to affix its own name to the automated kiosks anytime soon. That, she told the paper, would conflict with CEO Howard Schultz's desire to reinvigorate the coffeehouse ambiance of the early Starbucks. "Howard wants to build the romance of handcrafted espresso beverages," she said, "and that's going to be hard to do pushing buttons."
Coinstar, also based in Bellevue, offers a range of "4th Wall" solutions for the retailers' front of store consisting of self-service coin counting, money transfer, electronic payment solutions, entertainment services and self-service DVD rental. Its products and services can be found at more than 50,000 retail locations including supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchants, financial institutions, convenience stores and restaurants.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.