USA: Starbucks planning a flagship store in Chicago

Starbucks plans to open an upscale store focused on its Reserve coffees in the Fulton Market district, the chain's first such shop in Chicago.

Starbucks is planning a flagship store in this building at 1000 W. Randolph St.

The company has leased about 4,000 square feet on the ground floor of a two-story building at 1000 W. Randolph St. for a flagship that will focus on Starbucks' rare small-batch coffee beans, according to people familiar with the deal.

Starbucks began rolling out the new store concept in December 2014, with a 15,000-square-foot Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room in its hometown, Seattle.

At the time, Starbucks said it planned to open at least 100 such stores, with Chicago among the initial five U.S. cities it was targeting, but did not name potential locations in those cities.

Earlier this month, Starbucks confirmed plans for its largest store in the world in Manhattan: a 20,000-square-foot roastery where visitors will be able to taste coffees and learn about coffee brewing and bean origins.

The new Chicago store will be much larger than a typical Starbucks but is one-fifth the size of the New York behemoth that will open in 2018. It's not yet clear what elements the new Chicago store will share with the mega-sized roasting facilities.

The 23,000-square-foot building was formerly home to B.A. Florist & Nursery. Starbucks has a traditional store across Morgan Street, at 946 W. Randolph.

Fulton Market—on the northwest edge of the West Loop and west of the Kennedy Expressway—was once a center for meatpackers and food distributors but has recently drawn new uses including creative offices, retail and hotels.