Starbucks plans more than 80 store renovations in Mexico for 2026
Mexico got the clearest look yet at Starbucks’ Back to Starbucks push: more than 80 renovations, warmer rooms, a visible espresso bar and cleaner mobile pickup flow.
Starbucks turned Mexico into the first Latin American test bed for its Back to Starbucks redesign, with more than 80 coffeehouse renovations planned across the country in 2026. The changes were built around what customers notice the moment they walk in: inviting seating, warmer colors, layered textures, locally inspired art, a redesigned espresso bar that puts drink craft in view, and a separate space for mobile-order pickup.
That matters in Mexico because Starbucks is not starting from a small base. Alsea, the company’s operating partner there, runs more than 1,950 Starbucks coffeehouses across 12 markets, and Starbucks said Mexico had more than 950 locations and more than 13,000 employees. Starbucks and Alsea have been linked in Mexico since 2002, when the first store opened near the Ángel de la Independencia in Mexico City, and the two companies renewed their licensing agreements on May 19, 2026, extending Alsea’s rights to develop and operate Starbucks coffeehouses through 2046.
The Mexico rollout also gave Starbucks a cleaner stress test for a broader design reset. The company said the coffeehouse uplifts were meant to create community, warmth, comfort and care, while still letting stores vary by size and local design details. Starbucks has already pushed similar updates through stores in New York, Chicago and Southern California, and it has said it planned to uplift more than 1,000 coffeehouses across the United States and Canada in 2026 as part of the same strategy.
For coffee drinkers, the important part is that Starbucks is not treating this as a cosmetic refresh. The company is using the store itself as the brand statement, with more visible espresso work, less crowding around pickup, and interiors that feel less generic and more like a place to linger. In Mexico, where the chain has built one of its most important international footprints, that is the clearest sign yet that Back to Starbucks is meant to change how the rooms feel, not just how the menu reads.
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