Starbucks arms staff with handheld devices at new express store

Time-crunched, caffeine-deprived New Yorkers are getting express Starbucks stores designed to shorten wait times courtesy of "mobile" points of sale in a newly launched pilot project.

Not far off the heels of the opening of its Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle-- pitched as the Willy Wonka theater of coffee -- the coffee giant has announced plans to open several express format stores, starting in the heart of New York’s Financial District.

At 538 square feet (50 square meters), the first store, located on the ground floor of the Fourteen Wall Street Building, is small and compact.

Or as Starbucks calls it, an “espresso shot” version of the traditional store experience.

Upon entering, customers place their order with a roving staff member armed with a handheld device.

Digital menu boards displayed on low-glare monitors along the wall will help those customers who don’t already have their habitual coffee order spiel ready.

Strategically located in the heart of the city’s buzzing Financial District, the first express store is meant to match the frenetic pace of the corporate world on-the-go.

Following the Wall Street outlet, the company says it plans to open four more "espresso shot" stores in New York throughout 2015.

Last year, Starbucks restored a century-old building in Seattle to open the Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room, an immersive, interactive coffee theater dedicated to coffee.

The company plans to open 500 more Reserve bars worldwide that will serve rare, small-lot coffees, including another Roastery in Asia in 2016.

Meanwhile, it seems fast food giant McDonald’s is also toying with the idea of introducing mobile points of sale.

Last year, it was reported that an outlet in California was quietly testing out a new concept that allowed customers to build their own burger by placing their orders on tablets.