Starbucks to serve alcohol in Vancouver in push to attract evening customers

Pixabay photo, CC0 Public Domain

VANCOUVER—Starbucks Canada will begin serving beer and wine Thursday in Vancouver, a year after launching its bar menu at a few locations in Toronto and Ottawa.

It’s part of a push by the coffee giant to attract more customers in the late afternoon and evening, rather than just be a stopover for morning coffee.

The company says customers at its newly opened store in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood will be able to choose from six types of wine, two brands of beer and a cider, in addition to snacks such as goat cheese flatbread.

The menu will be available from 2 p.m. until close on weekdays and noon until close on weekends.

This marks the first time Starbucks customers can order alcohol at one of its cafes outside of Ontario.

Starbucks launched the expanded menu at three Toronto locations in April 2016, followed by one in Ottawa seven months later.

There aren’t any plans for now to serve alcohol at other Canadian locations, Starbucks said.

Earlier this year, Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ:SBUX) removed its Evenings menu from more than 300 locations in the U.S. after introducing it at a Seattle cafe in 2010. It continues to serve alcohol at locations in the U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan and Taiwan.

Founded in 1971 in Seattle, Starbucks operates more than 20,000 stores around the world. The first Canadian location opened in Vancouver in 1987.