Luckin Coffee Expands in Ningbo

Luckin Coffee opened its second flagship store in Ningbo, continuing its rapid expansion across China. The new location drew attention when management was briefly mistaken for store staff during the opening. Luckin has focused on convenient pickup and delivery, using app-based ordering and modern coffee machines with features like automated grinding and brewing. These machines help maintain consistency across many outlets.

For coffee enthusiasts, the incident highlights how busy openings can be. Luckin competes with other chains by emphasizing speed and technology. The company's use of advanced coffee machine features, such as precise temperature control and self-cleaning, supports its high-volume service. As Luckin grows, store openings like the one in Ningbo show its ambition to reach more customers with consistent quality and quick service.

Luckin Coffee has opened its second flagship store nationwide in Ningbo, which is also Zhejiang's first flagship store. The store is located by a scenic water feature near Crystal Street in Tianyi Square, and from a distance it appears to float on the water's surface. The two-story space, decorated in black and gold, covers nearly 400 square meters, second only to the Xiamen flagship store. The opening day was bustling, but many customers noticed numerous people in blue uniforms outside the bar area attending to guests, and briefly mistook the store for having about 50 baristas. In fact, these were regional management personnel attending the celebration, not bar staff. Coffee enthusiasts have engaged in considerable discussion about the staffing, equipment, and differences between this new flagship store and the first one in Xiamen.

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Last year, to celebrate surpassing 10,000 stores, Luckin Coffee opened its 10,000th store in its headquarters city, Xiamen, and made it the world's first flagship store. Yesterday, Luckin Coffee opened its second flagship store in Ningbo, Zhejiang.

The new store is located near Crystal Street in Ningbo's Tianyi Square, with a scenic water feature nearby, making the flagship store appear from afar as if it sits on the water. The interior is predominantly decorated in black and gold, with a grand and elegant style, spanning two floors, and its total area is second only to the Xiamen flagship store.

As Luckin's second-largest store nationwide and Zhejiang's first flagship store, it had already stirred the curiosity of Ningbo's Luckin fans during renovation, who eagerly anticipated its finished look. The brand also placed great importance on it, hosting a lively opening ceremony yesterday to attract fans to visit and check in.

However, some customers buying coffee in the store noticed that besides the busy staff making drinks behind the bar, there were also many employees in blue uniforms outside the bar attending to entering customers, guiding them to try the gashapon machines placed in the store, and couldn't help but marvel at the sea of people, saying, "By my estimate, there must be 50 baristas!"

From photos taken by attending guests, aside from consumers, these people in blue uniforms were seen walking back and forth. Considering the store's nearly 400-square-meter area, many believed it was reasonable for Luckin to assign more staff to this store, as just cleaning and maintaining the environment in such a large space would require considerable manpower.

Just as customers were exclaiming over Luckin's deep pockets for arranging so many people to manage the new store, Luckin staff took a closer look at the crowded photos and couldn't help but laugh. They explained that these people in blue uniforms were indeed Luckin employees, but unlike the baristas shaking coffee behind the bar, they were management-level staff and not involved in bar work.

Since this was the opening ceremony of the second flagship store, management from surrounding areas came to celebrate on-site and also to experience the new store's facilities and services as customers. But many customers visited to check in yesterday, causing some chaos, so these staff members took on guest reception duties, leading some customers to mistakenly think they were also store employees.

Luckin staff said that, taking the Xiamen flagship store as an example, it indeed has more staff than regular stores, and it's possible to have over a dozen people at the bar during peak hours. The store also arranges dedicated cleaning staff, so employees basically don't need to worry about hygiene issues.

Additionally, some netizens wondered whether this flagship store, besides being large enough, would introduce automatic pour-over coffee equipment like the Xiamen flagship store to supply pour-over coffee. Currently, Luckin has no related promotions, and customers haven't seen similar equipment in the store. The special features of this second flagship store might only be discovered by those who visit in person.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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