Starbucks Add-In for Outlook Is Now Brewing On a Computer Near You

When Starbucks first came to national prominence in the 1990s, chairman and CEO Howard Schultz spoke in interviews about how the coffee chain filled the need in Americans' lives for a "third place"  -- a space that was neither home nor work, but offered the comforts of one and the potential for productivity of the other. Schultz has remained faithful to that message, and as the American workplace expands to include coworking spaces and coffee shops, Starbucks has taken steps to strengthen the association between their name and their stores as a third place where people might relax or work.

For example, it's now in people's email.

Thanks to the new Starbucks add-in for Outlook, people can now make appointments with their correspondents and specify specific Starbucks outlets for the meetings. 

If face-to-face meetings are not possible, Outlook users can also send electronic gift cards to Starbucks.

Right now, the Starbucks add-in for Outlook is available for users of the new Outlook.com, as well as Outlook 2013, Outlook 2016 and Outlook on the web users with Office 365 or Exchange 2013 or Exchange 2016 mailboxes. It is not available for Outlook for Mac or Outlook Mobile.

To install it, follow these directions from Microsoft:

If you are using Office 365 or the new Outlook.com, simply click on https://aka.ms/getcoffee to begin installation of the Starbucks for Outlook add-in. If you are using Exchange 2016 or Exchange 2013 on premise, please follow the steps below to install the add-in:

Note: Some users in Outlook 2013 may not see the new in-client store UI above. For these users, follow the steps below: