Starbucks opens first stores in Urumqi, rolls out “Xinjiang” menu in 41 Chinese Cities

China’s state media reported the Urumqi openings. Starbucks has not announced them on its English-language corporate news sites.

Starbucks opened its first two stores in Xinjiang, the region Uyghurs call East Turkistan, on Sept. 29, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported. Starbucks China also said it would sell “Xinjiang specialty” food and drinks in 41 Chinese cities from Oct. 1, the start of the National Day holiday.

“Starbucks International Grand Bazaar Intangible Cultural Heritage Flagship Store officially opens,” Starbucks China said in a post on its verified Weibo account on Sept. 29. The post welcomed customers to be guests at “Star Bazaar” (星巴扎). There, it said, they could “admire the woven artistry of intangible heritage” and “taste limited-edition flavors.” The post’s video shows a model in a qipao-style dress cut from Atlas-patterned fabric, holding a Starbucks cup beside the store’s plaque.

One store is in Urumqi’s Grand Bazaar, which Xinhua called “iconic.” The other is at Urumqi Tianshan International Airport, according to Xinhua. The Tianshan mountains are known in Uyghur as Tengri Tagh.

In another Weibo post that day, Starbucks China listed four “Xinjiang specialty” items that it said would reach 41 cities: a milk-skin flavored salty milk tea, a nut baklava, a nut-chocolate “bahali” and a baked lamb pastry. It told customers to order through the Starbucks app or mini-program from Oct. 1. The post’s video features a teddy bear in a red embroidered cap and veil. Both posts carry hashtags linking the launch to the National Day holiday, including “#Come to Starbucks for National Day to taste Xinjiang flavors#.”

“Entering Xinjiang not only marks a further expansion of our store network, but also allows us to engage deeply with this vibrant market and build sincere, lasting connections with our customers there,” Starbucks China CEO Molly Liu said in a written statement, according to Xinhua. Zhang Yu, an official with Xinjiang’s regional market regulator, said the region has made the “first-store economy” a key lever for boosting domestic demand and consumption, Xinhua reported.

Funds managed by Boyu Capital have held 60% of Starbucks’ China retail operations since April 2. Boyu is an investment firm with offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore. Starbucks retains 40% and owns and licenses the brand. As of Sept. 29, the openings did not appear on Starbucks’ English-language press release page or on its Starbucks Stories Asia site.

Starbucks did not respond to requests for comment sent by email and phone on Tuesday.

The US State Department determined in January 2021 that China is committing genocide against Uyghurs. Xinhua described the Urumqi openings as Starbucks’ debut in the region.

Közet is investigating the Xinjiang stores and will publish a fuller report.