Starbucks is aggressively courting the happy hour crowd.
The world’s biggest coffee chain plans to expand alcohol sales to thousands of cafes after testing a booze-fueled evening menu in several markets.
Starbucks began offering beer and wine at a Seattle store in 2010. In 2012, it expanded the program to around dozen locations in Chicago, Atlanta and Southern California.
“We’ve tested it long enough in enough markets — this is a program that works,” Chief Operating Officer Troy Alstead told Bloomberg News. “As we bring the evening program to stores, there’s a meaningful increase in sales during that time of the day.”
The booze is part of an after-4 p.m. menu that includes savory snacks and small plates like truffle macaroni and cheese, bacon-wrapped dates and chocolate fondue.
With a Starbucks on every corner, it will take several years to roll out the beer-and-wine program that is in about 40 stores now, according to Bloomberg.
After a rough patch during the recession, Starbucks has reignited sales growth by moving beyond it well-known coffee into tea, juice and wine.
The company just announced that its teaming with former talk show Oprah Winfrey to create Teavana Oprah Chai tea.
Starbucks boasts more than 20,100 locations worldwide, including about 11,500 in the US.