SEATTLE — Starbucks Coffee Co. on Aug. 1 opened its first standalone Princi store in the United States in Seattle. The new store features the full Princi menu of artisanal foods, including steel-cut oats with Italian jam, focaccia sandwiches, pizza and Italian cakes, tarts and other desserts.
“When you first walk into a Princi bakery, you’re suddenly hit by the energy, the theater, the smell,” said Christian Davies, vice-president of Starbucks’ creative global design and innovation. “Your first impression is the abundance and seduction of food. That’s what we’re trying to create with a distinctly Italian look and feel to bring that passion to life.”
Starbucks in July 2016 became an investor and global licensee of Princi, a high-end Italian bakery-cafe founded by Rocco Princi in 1986. Last fall, the company opened the first Princi location in the United States inside the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle, where artisanal baked foods are served alongside Starbucks Reserve coffees. Starbucks made Princi the exclusive food purveyor in its Roasteries and Starbucks Reserve store locations, and since then, new Princi bakeries have opened in the Shanghai Roastery and Starbucks Reserve store at the company’s Seattle headquarters (and coming soon to future Roastery locations in Milan and New York).
Additional standalone Princi locations are expected to open this fall in Chicago.
