HB, more Ugly American culture coming your way:
siliconinvestor.com
Starbucks to Open Shops in Austria
Jul 4 5:27pm ET
By Tom Armitage
VIENNA (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp, the U.S-based specialty coffee chain, plans to challenge Vienna's traditional coffeehouses by opening a dozen outlets here, Starbucks President Peter Maslen said on Wednesday.
The group, which already serves 15 million customers a week from 4,300 shops in 23 markets, aims to offer a more youthful alternative to the atmospheric but often staid establishments characteristic of the Austrian capital.
All of the dozen outlets Starbucks will open in the Vienna area from December will be non-smoking -- a daring move in a country with a high proportion of heavy smokers.
With a yearly intake of 215 litres per head, Austrians are among the most prolific coffee drinkers in Europe.
"Austria is at the heart of European coffee culture and coming here is a very important event," Maslen said.
Starbucks will offer a more contemporary version of the relaxed and unhurried atmosphere of the Viennese cafe, where customers can sit undisturbed for hours -- often hoping desperately that a waiter will deign to serve them.
"We talk about Starbucks as the third place between home and work," Maslen told Reuters. "We bring stuffed chairs and, frankly, in some places it's a more comfortable living room than you might have at home."
The Starbucks global no-smoking policy is not being relaxed for the Austrian market.
"We will not have smoking in stores," Maslen said. "It has always been controversial. The reason we do it is coffee is highly absorbent and we do not want it to taste of smoke."
Austria is the second market in continental Europe that Starbucks is targeting after a successful launch this year with its joint venture partner Bon Appetit Group A.G. in neighboring Switzerland.
Austrian Star, another joint venture of Starbucks and Bon Appetit, will run the Austrian expansion program. The chain plans to open stores in Israel in September and other European markets within the next 12 months.
"Every market is a test," Starbucks European, Middle East and African President Mark McKeon said. "We are now focusing hard on the German, French, Italian and Spanish markets."
Kurt Falkner, founder member of the Austrian Coffee Culture Society, believes the arrival of Starbucks will complement rather than replace Vienna's long-established cafes, which became popular in the 19th century.
"What this will do is maintain the habit of drinking coffee and bring young people back to it."
Thank God! Austrians will finally get to see what real coffee is all about!<VBG> |
