Starbucks Singapore 100th Store Gives Back to Local Community

Starbucks marks its new milestone on last Friday, 14 February 2014, with the opening of its 100th store in Singapore at the iconic Fullerton Waterboat House. 

Starbucks Singapore 100th Store located at the iconic Fullerton Waterboat House

 

Starbucks Singapore has been supporting the ARC organization through various programs since 2005, including the setting up of a café training facility for youth with autism last year in Pathlight School, a unit of ARC. The 100th Store is the first store in Singapore to collaborate with the Singapore Autism Resource Center’s (ARC) Employability and Employment Center (E2C) to train people with autism and equip them with skills necessary for purposeful employment.  Six partners from the Autism Resource Centre’s (ARC) program are hired as part of a long-term commitment to work with ARC, and give back to the local community.  Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for Defence , Mr. Chan Chun Sing, has graced this momentous opening, together with Starbucks partners and executives from ARC. 

Left to Right - Ruth Yam, Ms Denise Phua, Minister Chan Chun Sing, Jeff Hansberry and
Sures Muniasamy officiating the Starbucks Singapore 100th store opening

Ms Denise Phua interacting with the Starbucks Singapore partners from ARC

Six partners from the Autism Resource Centre’s (ARC)

As part of this collaboration, two special Starbucks® tumblers designed by a student at Pathlight School will be sold exclusively at the Starbucks® 100th store, with $5 from the sales of each tumbler going to fund the ARC’s efforts.

 

With a seating capacity of 180 person, the Starbucks Fullerton Waterboat House Store is the biggest fully air-conditioned store in Singapore, and features the first split bar in Singapore, a concept to encourage interaction between customers and partners.  Customers also get to experience the first dedicated Starbucks® slow bar in Singapore, where a Starbucks Coffee Master will be available to introduce and educate customers on how to prepare coffee with one of the three manual brewing methods: Coffee Press, Pour-Over and Chemex.

The Split Bar

Starbucks® slow bar 

The store houses a nautical-themed interior and a wall dedicated to showcase the talents of the Pathlight School to raise autism awareness . There is also a hand-drawn depiction of 6 Samsui women on the wall by Singaporean artist, Ly Yeow, paying tribute to the heritage of the Waterboat House which witnessed the early migration of Chinese settlers to Singapore. Moving into the seating area, customers can enjoy photos of Singapore in the 1900s replicated from archive photos lined up on a large feature wall. Refurbished sofas and arm chairs hand-picked from local sources, together with 100% LED lights used, is an initiative of Starbucks to build a more environmental friendly store.

 Hand-drawn depiction of Samsui women on the wall by Singaporean artist, Ly Yeow,

 Feature wall with photos of Singapore in the 1900s replicated from archive photos lined up

         

The Starbucks Fullerton Waterboat House store is located at 3 Fullerton Road, Street Level, The Fullerton Waterboat House, Singapore 049215. It operates daily from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., with extended hours on Fridays and Saturdays until midnight.

Image Credit (except for those watermarked):

Starbucks Singapore