New Starbucks store in Downtown Disney features digital chalkboard

Seattle -- In collaboration with Disney, Starbucks Corp. has opened its first company-operated store at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, a nearly 4,000-sq.-ft. location at Downtown Disney West Side. This past March, Disney opened its first company-operated café at Downtown Disney, Anaheim, California.



Both locations feature 70-inch digital display panels that use built-in cameras to create chalk sketches of guests and their surroundings — the cameras automatically render whatever is in front of them into a live illustration. (When users touch the screen, they can draw on the rendering with their fingers.) Customers in the Disney World Starbucks will be able to interact with those in the Disneyland location.



“We know the value of having that moment of connection over coffee,” said Starbucks senior designer David Daniels. “This is the beginning of connecting our stores globally through technology so you could share a cup of coffee from coast-to-coast.”



The Orlando space features artwork of metallic Venetian plaster that depicts the Starbucks coffee origin story. The site is Starbucks 500th LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) store, with 100% energy-efficient LED lighting. Reclaimed oak, maple and other sustainable materials are used throughout the space and community tables are made from salvaged trees. The store has a green roof consisting of hundreds of lemon grass plants.



“We had all the grass grown in a nursery and we fed it with compost from our coffee grounds from a nearby Starbucks store. This gesture is one of the many ways we’re able to tell our story,” said Daniels.



Miami-based industrial designer and artist Paloma Teppa created a replica of the Starbucks Siren logo out of moss on a living wall in the store. The moss art installation is a touch of Disney-like whimsy that brings a piece of the tranquility from a forest to a Starbucks store.