Seattle , Washington ( CNN ) -- There are over 15,000 Starbucks in the world but none like the one at 328 15th Avenue East in Seattle . Officially the coffee shop is called `` 15th Ave Coffee and Tea '' but the store and a similar sister location have earned another name : `` the Stealth Starbucks . '' At first glance the coffee shops in the mega-chain 's hometown of Seattle do not even look like Starbucks . The ubiquitous smiling Mermaid logo has apparently swum away , there are no baristas in trademark green smocks either and not a tall , grande or venti sized beverage in sight . The only hint that the store is owned by the coffee giant and not a local java seller is the `` Inspired by Starbucks '' lettering across the front door . Inside , pages from Plato 's dialogues decorate an entire wall , sweeteners sit on a bathtub converted into a table , beer and wine are for sale and employees dole out customized drip coffees along with advice on which are the best beans . At every turn , the message seems to be here `` it 's about the coffee . '' After first checking that her Starbucks rewards card would actually work at the location , customer Donna Godfrey said she liked the store precisely because it did n't seem like -- well -- such a Starbucks . `` I really liked the ambience , its not as loud as most of your Starbucks . It just feels more European , '' Godfrey said . `` You get to the point where you walk down the street and on every corner or on every other corner there 's a Starbucks . So I think this is a way to have a presence without it being that thumb in your face presence . '' If customers enjoy the `` stealth '' Starbucks experience without linking it immediately to the coffee giant that 's fine with the creators of the concept , said Arthur Rubinfeld , Starbucks ' president of global development . `` These are learning environments for us to be innovative and push the envelope , Starbucks customers worldwide have come to expect a certain amount of offerings and timing in our stores we wanted to change things up here but did n't want to disappoint any of our customers , '' Rubinfeld . Like many retailers , 2009 was not a great year for Starbucks . The company closed hundreds of their stores amidst the economic downturn and battled the perception that their business was based on what critics complained was overpriced coffee . According to Arthur Rubinfeld the `` stealth '' stores are not a departure from the brand but an effort to get back to the basics of the successful product that launched the company from a small single location coffee shop to a worldwide phenomenon . `` It 's rooted at the very core of Starbucks , we are an innovative company , '' Rubinfeld said . `` We most continue to be that , and stay relevant as we continue to move forward and grow . '' Rubinfeld said Starbucks is closely watching the ideas that come out of the new stores and may eventually adopt some of those innovations company-wide . Seattle-based blogger Melody Overton writes about all things Starbucks on her Web site Starbucks Melody and says the new stores are an attempt by the chain to go back to `` the early '90s where you went into the stores and Starbucks was about the coffee . You smelled the smell of coffee in the stores , there was n't the sound of blenders going every two seconds . '' But small coffee shop owner Sebastian Simsch says it 's getting the small details right that 's tricky , especially for a company like Starbucks that thinks on a global scale . At the one location of his store Seattle Coffee Works , Simsch roasts his own coffee , chats with customers and picks out furniture that he admits resembles a mismatched living room set . As simple as the coffeehouse is , Simsch says his place is genuine . `` It 's an artificially created experience , '' Simsch says of Starbucks version of the personal coffee experience . `` A Disneyland with a nice façade . I love that they want to learn but on the other hand its like how do you learn to be a Buddhist monk ? Its a way of life -- you ca n't . ''
Not every Starbucks features a mermaid or baristas in green smocks . There are some `` stealth '' Starbucks shops sprouting up . The door of one such shop in Seattle says it was `` inspired by Starbucks '' Company executive : Stores are `` learning environments for us to be innovative ''