Starbucks appears ready to do just about anything -- big or small -- to get your business. On Friday, the chain will announce plans to open a Starbucks Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle by December that will increase the availability of its higher-priced, small-lot Reserve coffees. This will allow the company to expand its lucrative and fast-growing Reserved coffee line to 1,500 locations globally, as well as to open at least 100 stores that will highlight these pricier coffees. "Everything we have created and learned about coffee has led us to this moment," said Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, in a statement. The Starbucks Reserve Roastery, Schultz said,"will transform the future of coffee." For Starbucks in recent years, success has been all about spreading the brand to any and every place the customer wants to be. The brand has spread deeply into grocery stores even as its evolved beyond coffee. Starbucks knows that for the customer, convenience is king. But it also knows that some customers like to be spoiled a bit. The Seattle tasting room will combine what Starbucks likes to call "coffee theater" and manufacturing. Starbucks expects to double its small-batch roasting capacity and grow its Reserve coffee presence from 800 to 1,500 stores worldwide in 2015. The 15,000-square-foot facility has been two years in development. The company hasn't yet decided what its Reserve menu will be just yet, says spokeswoman Lisa Passe. Recently, Starbucks opened its first ever Reserve location in Latin America as part of a three-level store serving 100% Colombian coffee and is on track to exceed over $1.5 million in year one sales. Another 100 stores with this same limited availability coffees will open within the next five years, the company says. At the same time, Starbucks will investing in smaller, alternative stores and will announce on Friday plans to test next year in New York City smaller express stores -- with fewer products available -- to offer reduced waiting times for consumers frustrated with long lines. With drive-through stores accounting for more than 40% of U.S. company-operated stores, Starbucks sees a huge opportunity in the small-store experience, says Cliff Burrows, group vice president, U.S. Besides offering a more concentrated number of beverages and foods, the express formats will focus on digital payments and mobile ordering, he says. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/