Starbucks occupies Wall Street with efficiency-first store design

Faster and better customer service is one of the biggest business trends of the year and we're seeing many major companies rethink the way they interact with their customers. Starbucks is a case in point as they test a new express format that puts speed ahead of all else. The company's testing ground is a pocket-sized store on Manhattan's Wall Street, a place where, one assumes, people are in a rush. Time is money, after all. Instead of space to linger, the outlet is standing-room-only and ordering is not done at a cash register, but via a handheld device wielded by roving employees. Not only do patrons order from these front-of-the-house baristas, but they pay right there too, all without having to wait in line. The quickest café on Wall Street is giving new meaning to the New York minute.