Costa Coffee has confirmed they will be opening the first of their planned Metropolitan Stores, in London on Friday.

The firm are looking to lure city workers into their shops with the design of their latest outlets. The Costa Coffee Metropolitan stores, will primarily focus of speed of service for those city workers in a hurry and will even have express till areas.

Costa have said the shops interior will use simplistic materials such as glass, stone and timber and will also have feature walls of exposed brickwork. Through the use of quirky lighting and eye catching wall art, the stores will rival the ‘retro’ design that many Starbucks stores have.

Costa say they are opening their new-look stores in response to consumer research, which found that those in the city wanted high speed service for when they are in a hurry, but a more relaxed atmosphere with zoned seating areas for when they were not in a rush.

The first store is opening on Great Portland street and will offer customers specially made loyalty cards and free Wi-fi services. It is likely there will be more metropolitan stores opening in other cities including Manchester and Birmingham.

Kevin Hydes, Costa Coffee’s head of UK Marketing at Costa told marketing news website Marketing Week: “Cities are hubs for business and leisure and we feel the time is right to target these audiences with an offering that matches their personality and lifestyles.

“It’s much more minimalist and simplistic than our other stores and presents the contemporary lifestyle that city customers want from their coffee shops,” he said.

Related posts:

1. Morrisons convenience stores set to open next year
2. Waitrose to double stores by 2015
3. VisitBritain teams up with airlines
4. Starbucks’ profits increase thanks to its UK marketing
5. Asda bolsters growth with brand revamping and acquisitions