The Roastery in Seattle has seen sales increase 24 percent over the prior year, with an average ticket four times the level of a typical Starbucks store. “Since opening two years ago, our Seattle Roastery has become recognized as the most immersive coffeebar retail experience in the world today and it has cast a bright halo across the entire Starbucks brand and ecosystem,” said Schultz.

The Roastery has acted as laboratory for testing new ideas that have rolled out to the system, like the new nitro cold brew coffee.

Starbucks expects about 20 percent of the 25,000 unit chain will have Reserve Bars, specialty espresso bars within traditional stores serving the more-premium coffees, like this one in Taiwan.

Schultz said he envisions 20 to 30 Roastery units in various cities around the world, with openings scheduled in Shanghai in late 2017, Tokyo in 2018, and Europe in 2019.

A modified version of the Roastery, Reserve units will also serve small-batch coffees using more-premium brewing methods, along with food from the recently acquired Milan-based bakery-café Princi.

Schultz said the Starbucks Reserve format is expected to deliver two times the financial performance of a traditional Starbucks and will represent a new significant growth opportunity, with the potential for 1,000 or more locations.

That emphasis on micro-lot coffees will then trickle down to traditional Starbucks units, which have begun opening Reserve Bars in certain locations, allowing guests to sit at an espresso bar and order Reserve coffees, specially brewed, rather than standing in line with the masses ordering Pumpkin Spice Lattes. In 2017, 1,000 Reserve Bars are expected to open.

Reserve Bars are currently in 12 traditional Starbucks units in New York (Madison Avenue location pictured), Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore and Boston. Schultz said Reserve Bars could ultimately appear in about 20 percent of Starbucks’ traditional units.

“We think we are sitting on an opportunity to not only elevate the equity of the brand, but drive incrementality in existing Starbucks stores and create a growth platform for the company domestically and internationally,” said Schultz.

The move will position Starbucks to compete with the growing number of higher-end “third wave” coffeehouses popping up across the country.

Schultz also sees the emphasis on the coffee experience as a way to protect the brand from the growing shift away from brick-and-mortar retail to e-commerce, or what he calls the Amazon Effect.