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

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

What's happening to this Starbucks Shihan Villa store that has been open for nearly 15 years? For a long time, it has been a beautiful memory for many people by the West Lake.

Recently, a property in Hangzhou's Shengtang Scenic Area on a trading platform has attracted 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 adjacent to West Lake were sold at 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. It was once the location of the Hangzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. Since 2007, it has been leased by Starbucks Coffee until now. Among the dozen or so Starbucks stores in the West Lake Scenic Area, 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, specific location, area, and water capacity are all based on on-site display and are rented as-is. The business format is still required to focus on coffee bars, pre-packaged foods, and craft retail.

This means that the Starbucks Shihan store, which has been 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. When asked when it would stop operating, staff said they had not yet received notification. So what specific reasons led Starbucks not to renew the lease for this beautiful scenic location? Starbucks has not disclosed any relevant information.

Starbucks in China and Hangzhou

Since entering the Chinese market in 1999, Starbucks currently has over 6,000 stores in more than 230 cities in mainland China. Starbucks is a high-end brand in the coffee industry with strict site selection criteria and higher requirements for a city's consumption capacity. Therefore, the number of Starbucks stores can, to some extent, reflect 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 in Hangzhou has reached 324. Among the top ten cities with Starbucks stores in China, Hangzhou ranks third, only behind Shanghai and Beijing, surpassing first-tier cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The reason for the large number of Starbucks stores 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 account for a large proportion, and the entire city is relatively active and fashionable.

Unique Features of the Shihan Villa Store

According to Dianping, this Starbucks store's biggest feature besides its excellent scenery is its constantly updated cups. There are many varieties, and many cup designs are not available elsewhere. If you're a Starbucks cup collector, you'll likely spend a long, long time there each visit, dazzled by the selection.

The Changing Landscape of Scenic Area Starbucks

In recent years, affected by the pandemic and other factors, visitor traffic to scenic areas has significantly decreased, making it reasonable that operations face certain pressures. In fact, 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. This is certainly related to the fiercely competitive coffee market today.

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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