Starbucks local cafe pilot has alcohol, live music

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp next week will open a new neighborhood cafe pilot store that will feature beer and wine, night-time hours and live entertainment such as music and poetry readings.

That Seattle cafe, called 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, takes its name from its street address and borrows heavily from neighborhood coffee shops.

A Starbucks spokeswoman said the cafe and any others that follow, would return to making espresso drinks by hand and sell products without the Starbucks logo.

The coffee chain, which has been slashing costs and closing hundreds of poorly performing Starbucks outlets amid a long recession, said the first pilot store is a renovated Seattle Starbucks that was slated to be shuttered by year end.

Starbucks stores around the world currently do not serve alcohol.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; editing by Andre Grenon)