Closing Soon! The Most Beautiful Starbucks by West Lake May Become History

The "Most Beautiful West Lake Starbucks" Is Closing After Nearly 15 Years

What is happening to the Starbucks Shihan Villa store, which has stood there for nearly 15 years? For a long time it has been a beautiful memory for many people by West Lake.

Recently, a property in Hangzhou's Shengtang Scenic Area on a trading platform drew considerable attention. It is the Shihan Villa store, hailed as the "Most Beautiful West Lake Starbucks." Just yesterday, the lease rights for Shihan Villa in the West Lake Scenic Area finally concluded after hundreds of rounds of bidding. The lease rights for this two-story villa next to West Lake sold for 2.521 million yuan per year, nearly 700,000 yuan higher than the starting price.

According to public information, Shihan Villa was first built in 1936 and is a historical building in Hangzhou. Since 2007 it has been leased by Starbucks, and it continues to operate today. Among the dozen or so Starbucks stores in the West Lake Scenic Area, the Shihan Villa store has always been known online as the "Most Beautiful West Lake Starbucks."

According to multiple media reports, the auction announcement shows that the property is currently occupied by the original tenant, who has waived their priority lease rights under the same conditions. The quality of the leased property, its specific location, area, and water capacity are all based on on-site display, and it is rented as-is. The business format is still required to focus on coffee bars, pre-packaged foods, and craft retail.

This means the Starbucks Shihan store, open for more than a decade, will soon close, and the new owner who won the lease rights will move in to operate. According to media reports, the Starbucks store is still operating normally. Asked when it would stop operating, staff said they had not yet received notification. As for what specifically led Starbucks not to renew the lease for this beautiful scenic location, Starbucks has not disclosed any information.

Starbucks in China and Hangzhou

Since entering the Chinese market in 1999, Starbucks now has more than 6,000 stores in over 230 cities in mainland China. It is a high-end brand in the coffee industry with strict site-selection criteria and higher requirements for a city's consumption capacity. The number of Starbucks stores can therefore reflect, to some extent, a city's economic strength and degree of internationalization.

Although Hangzhou is a second-tier city, according to incomplete statistics the number of Starbucks stores there has reached 324. Among the top ten Chinese cities by Starbucks stores, Hangzhou ranks third, behind only Shanghai and Beijing and ahead of first-tier cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou. One reason may be that Hangzhou's internet economy and technology are relatively developed, making it one of the most popular second-tier cities for young people nationwide. Young people make up a large share of the population, and the city as a whole is active and fashion-forward.

What Made the Shihan Villa Store Special

According to Dianping, the store's biggest feature besides its excellent scenery is its constantly updated cup selection. There are many varieties, and many of the designs cannot be found elsewhere. If you collect Starbucks cups, you will likely spend a long, long time there on every visit, dazzled by the choices.

The Changing Landscape of Scenic-Area Starbucks

In recent years, affected by the pandemic and other factors, visitor traffic to scenic areas has dropped significantly, making operational pressure understandable. This is not the first time a Starbucks in a scenic area has closed: the earlier Lingyin store closed in April of this year, and now the Shihan Villa store is gradually exiting. It is certainly connected to today's fiercely competitive coffee market.

Once the news of the upcoming closure was announced, it sparked heated discussion, with netizens sharing their memories of the store. At the same time, everyone is curious about what this place will become after Starbucks' lease expires.

Image source: Internet

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