Starbucks’ great leap forward: Be everything else but a coffee shop

Let’s go for a coffee.

A more-ish muffin.

A gossip.

A bit of free wi-fi.

A drink, as in a beer. A glass of wine.

Starbucks wants to be the place for all of these things. In an extraordinary move,  the world’s largest coffee chain has announced that it will add beer, wine, and evening snacks to thousands of domestic cafes, widen lunch offerings and roll out mobile ordering.

But only in the US, mind. Not everywhere. And only in about a quarter of its 11,900 cafes in the United States.

It’s clear it doesn’t think its 21,000 shops worldwide, serving 70 million customers weekly, aren’t ready for the great leap forward of a coffee shop – which is to say, be everything else.