Starbucks goes to College

There are roughly 11,500 Starbucks outlets in the U.S., but only about 300 of them are on U.S. campuses.

While Starbucks is on almost every street corner, the college campus (unless you're at a City Campus like NYU) has remained, relatively speaking, Starbucks free. According to BusinessWeek, there are roughly 11,500 Starbucks outlets in the U.S., but only about 300 of them are on U.S. campuses. That means most students of the country’s  4700 colleges are buying their coffee somewhere else.Until now! 

The coffee giant is driving it's way onto three schools (so far) in the form of a food truck. Students at Arizona State University (which has also joined forces with Starbucks  to offer employees scholarships for its online program), James Madison University in Virginia, and Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina.

Starbucks spokeswoman Maggie Jantzen says that  the trucks will be able to travel around with students throughout the day, meeting students’ caffeine needs wherever they pop up. So…dorms in the morning, library in the evening etc.  

The truck is a pretty good idea. Not only is the college customer base a much desired one, especially when it comes to coffee, but this can also serve as something of an experiment for Starbucks. Chief Financial Officer Scott Maw said during an earnings call in July, that the company is looking for new formats to reach customers beyond the typical brick and mortar store. It's a pretty safe bet, because you know these students are going to want coffee, and it allows the company to give the trucks a trial run. 

As the popularity of the food truck grows, we may see more and more companies take this kind of approach.