Nespresso Boutique & Bar — Restaurant in Milan

Is this place a prank?

We walked into the new Nespresso Boutique on Piazza Cordusio for coffee pods. Twenty-five minutes later, I emerged wondering if I'd stumbled into a sociology experiment testing human tolerance for corporate reverence.

This is not to fault the employees working at the shop. They were all doing exactly what they were asked to do, which was to execute a script of an inexplicably absurd ritural. Whoever conceptualized this should worry about their job security.

As you enter, they hand you a pager to wait your turn to meet with an employee at one of two tables. This is the first red flag. Getting something as banal buying a coffee capsule is now an appointment that requires consultation. You wait 10-15 minutes, then get summoned to marble "consultation tables" - something I'm sure Nespresso sees as coffee altars but really only screams the disconnect from how much consumers actually care about their pre-packaged aluminium coffee pods. This effort to groom people into taking coffee capsules more seriously is frankly embarrassing.

An employee walks you through a menu, fetches your selection from the back, then asks for your full name - another completely normal and definitely not weird ask when trying to buy something this mundane. They've created a process that seems formulated in a laboratory to be as inconvenient as possible.

I saw it on the faces of others waiting - that same look of muted bafflement that they have to queue for 10-15 like at the post office just to buy pre-packaged coffee. It's as if the company looked at what people hate about shopping and leaned into those qualities, all while presenting it as an elevated experience. They're putting gold paint over some of the most frustrating trends in consumption and expecting their clients not to notice.

A simple fix would be offering normal purchasing alongside the theater, so those who value their time don't have to endure the caffine liturgy. But of course that would require acknowledging this whole thing is a farce.

Order...

Sono cliente Nespresso da anni e non mi era mai capitata un’esperienza così negativa come quella avuta oggi nel punto vendita di Cordusio.

A mezzogiorno, su tutte le postazioni disponibili, solo quattro zone risultavano operative e di queste, due addetti erano scesi in magazzino e non sono tornati per circa un quarto d’ora. Un altro ragazzo, Giovanni, invece, ha trascorso tutto il tempo (almeno mezz’ora) a parlare con una cliente (non di macchine del caffè).

Io personalmente sono rimasta oltre 40 minuti in attesa, senza che nessuno si degnasse di chiedere se avessi bisogno di aiuto, nonostante volessi acquistare due macchine con relative capsule. E di sicuro farò una nota all’azienda per cui lavoro in modo tale da non far acquistare più macchine del vostro marchio.

È assurdo che in un orario di punta ci sia un tale livello di disorganizzazione, disattenzione e mancanza di rispetto verso il cliente non straniero!!

Sono italiana, e forse proprio per questo motivo non sono stata presa in considerazione. Nespresso, ormai, tratta i clienti italiani con meno attenzione rispetto a quelli stranieri. Non è un caso che le ultime recensioni a 5 stelle, pubblicate subito dopo la mia, provengano da clienti stranieri. Siamo diventati “RAZZISTI AL CONTRARIO”, ma d’altronde non è completamente colpa dei dipendenti, ma di...

If you’re a coffee lover visiting Milan, the Nespresso Boutique at Piazza del Liberty is worth checking out. The store offers a sleek, modern atmosphere right in the heart of the city. I enjoyed sampling new blends and chatting with the friendly staff downstairs — they really know their coffee!

However, be prepared for some wait time, especially during peak hours. Some travelers have mentioned inconsistent service, so your...