BEIJING — Luckin Coffee, China’s prominent coffee chain, has taken a significant step to challenge Starbucks’ upscale roastery brand by unveiling a new flagship store in southern China that offers premium beverages.
This marks Luckin’s first major deviation from its original strategy of running cost-effective coffee kiosks, enabling the company to surpass Starbucks in the number of outlets across China.
As the U.S.-based Starbucks sells off its struggling operations in China to a local investment firm, Luckin demonstrates a strong recovery from the 2020 fraud allegations that led to its delisting from Nasdaq.
The opening of the two-floor Luckin Coffee Origin Flagship is officially announced in Shenzhen, near the Hong Kong border.
Departing from its conventional pricing, which typically offers Americanos and lattes for about $1 or $2, the flagship store has slightly elevated prices for an assortment of pour-over and cold brew coffees. Customers have the option to choose beans sourced from Brazil, Ethiopia, or China’s Yunnan province, aligning with the popular 'origin' theme prevalent among Starbucks and other coffee brands.
The new store also features unique specialty drinks including a 'tiramisu latte' with a pastry, as shared by posts on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. Since its soft launch on January 20, users have reported waiting times of 1 to 3 hours for the new offerings.