A reader in Mexico sent me some photos of his favorite Starbucks. This Starbucks is in the town of San Miguel de Allende, which is a tourist destination in the eastern part of Guanajuato. These are stunning photos. This Starbucks is in a very old historic building, and the store design team preserved as much as possible of the welcoming cozy feeling of the house. It has a patio seating area with a fountain in the center of it! I tried to determine when this Starbucks first opened and I found an old Seattle Times article dating from July 2008 mentioning it as “just opened”. Starbucks has operated in Mexico since 2002.
This is not the first time that this blog has found its way to Mexico. A friend took a vacation to Mexico (about 2 years ago now) and she brought back this menu:
Starbucks around the globe: Episode #2 – Mexico
In addition, the week of September 15, Mexico celebrates 200 years of independence from Spain, and coinciding with that, Starbucks will be promoting special merchandise in stores. The merchandise includes a Starbucks Bearista Bear with “Mexico” on his shirt, a CD of traditional Mexican music with some jazz influence, and there will be two city mugs: One is a city mug for Mexico City, and the other is a country mug. The whole bean coffee offering “Mexico” will also be promoted. That whole bean coffee offering is part of the international series of coffees. Starbucks often produces a limited whole bean coffee just for one specific international market. There is more information about the “international” series of coffee offerings here:
- Starbucks International Whole Bean – A blog entry discussing that some countries receive their own special blends with beans from that specific country.
Also in January of this year I came upon one bag of the Mexico Blend coffee and I mentioned it here:
- Cupping Mexico Blend Coffee – A coffee cupping at 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea with Mexico Blend coffee.
But without further delay, here are the beautiful photos that go with this blog post:
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I am just stunned…those are amazing and incredible photos! This store is just a beauty!
I know this store already…but never saw photos from inside. I love it…THIS is how Starbucks must be and must go on. Awww…I just imagine to enjoy my daily coffee in this store in this smaller city.
I love Mexico…really wanna go there explore all Starbucks as soon as possible. Mexico is full of beautiful stores all over the land…Guadalajara, Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, Playa del Carmen. I think Mexico is one of the best examples how Starbucks can grow in a very good way.
Thanks for those photos…I enjoyed them so much!
Oh my that store is so pretty!
I’m so glad you shared 🙂
Wow, what a gorgeous Starbucks! I’d love to spend a day relaxing and sipping coffee, people watching in that store. Wish we had some more visually unique locations in my area. Thanks for sharing the pictures!
Yeah, that gorgeous Starbucks! It is very luxurious space.
The pack of the coffee grounds is big. Good. 😀
@Nob – I thought the same thing about the grounds for your garden. That must be the Venti size packaging … oops no, the Trenta size. 😉 (j/k)
I am completely amazed by this store! The patio area with the fountain is beautiful!
Great photos of an interesting intrgration of a Starbucks into a local setting.
I am curious to know the customer ratio of locals to tourists. I would venture a guess that it is more tourists, but you never know. I am also curious about the drink menu and goodie selection.
Gosh how is it that the SB stores outside the USA are so beautiful and appealing so a customer would want to sit and enjoy their drink. Can’t the designers of USA stores take a hint from these stores?
What an AMAZING experience it must be to hangout here!
Hello everybody! I’ve been there for a couple times! Extraordinary! Peacefull and relaxing, the best place to enjoy a coffee. Of course, it is in my hometown! San Miguel de Allende… Nevetheless now I live in Mexico City and SB’s here are not so fancy!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this post. Awesome photos. I’ve been to San Miguel Allende, about 9 years ago. I love how this Starbucks Coffee Shop blends with the amazing architecture of Historic México. I took this photo when I was there, and remember tagging it as a “Drive Thru Starbucks.” Thank you so much for sharing. I would love to go back and visit this shop. One day….
http://bit.ly/duiWse
~A
Lovely! What a wonderful setting. I had to check out the street view in Google Maps – very cool.
(just enter Hidalgo, San Miguel de Allende – it’s a short street, easy to find the Starbucks! The town is interesting to “travel” around. And the streets sure look better than Seattle’s!).
Thanks for sharing!
What an amazing store!!! I absolutely LOVE that courtyard! So great how they kept the beauty of the original building. I’d love to sit and relax at a Starbucks like that 😀
Are all the starbucks in Mexico like that?
Wow, I think I would feel like I was on vacation every time I went to that store – very nice.
I do wonder about the glass doors on the merchandise cabinet though. Does that prohibit/limit the sale of some of that merchandise or are customers freely opening up the cabinets to retrieve the items? (a lot of people I know wouldn’t open up those cabinet doors)
There are so many great comments in this thread. Just wanted to acknowledge everyone and thank you for weighing in. The person who took the photos said he might be going back to the store this Friday, so there is a slight chance I’ll be updating the blog post with a few more pics. I had wanted to get a photo of the pastry case and bar area generally. Anyway, thank you everyone, new and familiar faces, for saying hello in this thread. Agree, I just want to relax here – Going to this Starbucks looks like it would be a life of luxury.
These pictures really demonstrate SBUX’s goal to fit the community.
This store just LOOKS like the neighborhood it’s in, while still looking like Starbucks. The design team is extremely talented.
These culturally-relevant designs are visible EVERYWHERE. Look at my Starbucks: http://home.flash.net/~ral1/starbucks/bigimages13/DSCN13906.htm
It LOOKS like a Wyoming building.
@purple1 Ditto that!
@Zombarista – WOW! That building in Wyoming is very reminiscent of this Starbucks in Mexico! Thanks for the great link!
Wow, how welcoming and just stunning!
That’s a gorgeous store. I’ll be looking forward to seeing more pics of it.
I love the court yard and patio photos. This really blows any Starbucks I have seen in the US out of the water. Very cool and relaxing.
Melody, if you ever come to Wyoming, we will show you the state.
PS. I’m really glad you like my store. As far as buildings go, it’s a very large store.
that store is gorgeous! I’ve always wanted to go! Btw, i was a starbucks barista 2 years ago! Best job ever lol
It breaks my heart to see a Starbucks in San Miguel. While it looks wonderful and likely enjoyed by all the tourists, it signifies what San Miguel has turned into. I used to spend entire summers there with my grandparents before it was “discovered” by most of us here in the United States. Unfortunately, as I see this picture I realize I’ll never return there again.
Mel!! Today I’ll be going to San Miguel de Allende!! I’m finally going to see this beautiful store! 😀
I agree with Drew. The people of San Miguel and seasonal residents were heartbroken to hear that Starbucks is sucking the life from the local coffee shops. It won’t prevent me from regularly returning to San Miguel but I won’t take one sip knowing there is a locally owned coffee shop right around the corner.
The Starbucks in San Miguel de Allende is fantastic!!!! Our vacation rental home is two blocks from this Starbucks and we visit daily….sinful it is so close!!!! Everyone should visit San Miguel de Allende….a truly amazing colonel city!!! http://www.casacarolinadelsur.com