Coffee Yankee

The green-and-white signboard in the shop-windows on the corner of Place de l'Op¨¦ra may herald an unwelcome invasion: Starbucks, an American coffee chain, opens its first French branch in mid-January. Though it boasts over 7,000 stores in 32 countries, Starbucks has so far avoided the country that invented caf¨¦ culture.

One wonders whether Starbucks¨Dwith its giant mugs of tarry coffee, infinite varieties of sweet and foamy drinks (really just hot coffee ice cream), and sweet, fruit-studded and sugar-coated American pastries¨Dcan really succeed in the land of the caf¨¦ noir and croissant. Certainly, it offers choices that don't exist in traditional French caf¨¦s. On the other hand, can it invite the kind of lingering and conversation to be found in Caf¨¦ Flore? And can a non-smoking, alcohol-free establishment ever succeed in Paris?

I like both and the atmospheres are not the same. When traditional café are good for a short stay ( e.g. for breakfasts), Starbucks style coffe houses are great for relaxing. And the menus are different. Myself,i miss the Café Mocha or stuffs like that, what you cannot find at a traditional bar. I like kinds of café where you can sit on a sofa, spend your time talking, studing or whatever u like.

Another branch is to open right at the feet of Coeur Défense Bldg in La Défense area.

http://telinet.free.fr/visite_usa/starbucks_coffee_france.htm#presse

Next to Malongo?

I think it will open right inside Coeur Defense's atrium on its plazza side.

Opera's shop will open tomorrow (Januaru 15th) , inaugurated by Starbuck's Chairman.

How are Malongos café by the way ?

Guys, do you know what prices are like in france?
i used to go everyday but recently i've trieed to have coffee at home cause i can't support a £4.50 breakfast every morning at the buck.
inflated prices don't seem to put most people off though.
The only good thing that ensued the Starbucks disgusting clustering method of opening stores, is that it had the reversed effect of generating competition instead of eliminating it here.
Hoever, the situation is different here as coffee drinkers were sneered upon and created a whole new scene opposed to the strongly established one in france.
Is this new store busy or what?

Is this new store busy or what?

I cannot tell u because the 1st store (in France) would open tomorrow ! So I have no idee about the price, for same reasons.
I guess they havn't tried to establish SB coffe before...for sure it will work !

http://www.starbucks.fr/

lol the local website is not ready yet, are they waiting to see if the 1st shop will work fine before making a website for France? ;)

oops i guess i read the opening thread in a hurry! but keep us posted, i'd like to know how it goes.
when it comes to coffee chain stores though, i favor the one served in donut stores. it's not as pretentious. some ppl take starbuck way to seriously. they make it a big show - mind you, great to watch and very amusing!

article in French (sorry)

http://www.lexpansion.com/art/17.0.72884.0.html

et le 19 janvier sur le parvis de la défense c'est-à-dire dès lundi prochain

Yes, that's true for the one at "Coeur de Defense", the monday coming. And also, another one should open in Montparnasse district. This year, 10 Starbucks should have opened in France ( in Lyon,...)
Also, I just know the price of an expresso, which is 1,60€.

that's cheap for an expresso compared to here but i only go for flavored coffees at Sbucks since the expresso is piss poor. mind you, all other coffee based drinks they do starts with an expresso shot but the extra flavors make up for it.
In the summer, make sure you do try frappucinos though - could sip on them all day long - they are iced and smoooooth!

January 15, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 10:48 a.m. ET

PARIS (AP) -- Starbucks has finally arrived in the country that likes to think it invented the cafe, and some business insiders say they know why it took so long to get here.

Almost six years after it began establishing itself in Europe -- starting with Britain, Switzerland and Austria, Starbucks Corp. inaugurated its first Paris store on Thursday, with Spanish partner Grupo VIPS.

Executives from four major French food companies said they turned down offers from Starbucks to form a joint venture in this notoriously difficult market.

``Their contract was way too expensive,'' said Jean-Paul Brayer, former head of Groupe Flo, the French reference company in upmarket chain restaurants, which declined a Starbucks offer in 2000. ``It was a win-win situation -- but only for Starbucks.''

Hamburger chain Quick and restaurant groups Elior and Le Duff said they also rebuffed Starbucks offers.

In an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the Paris launch, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz dismissed as ``rumors and speculation'' the suggestion he initially wanted a local partner. But he acknowledged having wide-ranging talks with French firms.

``Many of those conversations were not so much about partnering but learning about doing business in France and sharing information about their experience,'' Schultz said. ``We were in discussions with lots of people, never made a proposal.''

The king of Frappucinos-to-go nevertheless accepts it may not be easy to make ends meet right away in a country where people still like to sit down to drink their ``express,'' preferred short, black, bitter -- and above all, cheap.

``Our success in other countries does not provide us with an entitlement to be successful in France,'' Schultz said.

Seattle-based Starbucks sees its international business posting an operating profit overall in fiscal 2004 for the first time in an eight-year global expansion drive.

But Schultz said the company was taking a ``long-term view'' on France, where pre-launch research showed people remain skeptical about ``whether coffee from America can measure up.''

The findings also revealed that the French are already aware of the brand, he added.

``Their curiosity will drive them into the stores,'' he said.

There, familiar croissants and ``pains au chocolat'' await them, to lessen the culture shock when the doors to the new Starbucks premises on the prestigious Avenue de l'Opera swing open to the public on Friday.

Another outlet opens Monday in the La Defense business district, the second of about 10 planned for Paris over the next year.

There are other signs French coffee drinkers are ready for a change.

A recent study by the UMIH industry association showed that the traditional bistros and cafes it represents have been closing at a rate of about 1,500 a year for the past two decades, as lunch breaks contracted and takeout sandwich bars flourished.

The organization's president, Andre Daguin, nevertheless remains calm in the face of adversity -- and Arabian Mocha Java.

``The first cafe was founded in Paris over 300 years ago,'' Vaguin said, referring to Le Procope, a Latin Quarter eatery that claims to be the world's oldest restaurant still open for business.

``Starbucks is not going to compete with the French cafe,'' he said. ``The cafe isn't just somewhere to drink coffee, it's a place where people go for social contact. In a big place with hundreds of customers that's more difficult.''

Another promising sign for Starbucks is the success of Columbus Cafe -- a French-owned chain of coffee houses modeled on New York espresso bars.

Columbus has built up a network of about 40 stores with total sales of $11.4 million and tens of thousands of customers a week -- just the kind of on-the-go French coffee drinkers Starbucks wants to attract.

The French firm's founding co-chairman, Philippe Bloch, said he anticipated his new rival and is one year into an expansion based on a move into franchising.

Bloch believes high French labor costs will help reduce the impact of economies of scale enjoyed by Starbucks, with global revenue of $4.1 billion and huge buying power.

But he cheerfully accepts that the coming of the global coffee behemoth could spell the most serious threat so far to his company's decade-long existence.

``It's a bit like going into a nuclear war with a knife,'' he said of the competition.



Copyright 2004 The Associated Press

source: BBC website

A form of alien civilisation has finally landed in Paris - unfamiliar green and black signs have appeared on the Avenue de L'Opera.


French customers may know what to expect from US TV shows

It is the first Starbucks cafe to boldly go where no Starbucks has gone before, onto potentially hostile French territory.

Its advertising posters on the Champs Elysee announce "Starbucks - a passion pour le cafe".

But is the company aware of the risk it is taking by challenging the very birthplace of cafe society?

Bill O'Shea of Starbucks says it is all too aware of the cultural sensitivities here.

"I think every time we come into a new market we do it with a great sense of respect, a great deal of interest in how that cafe society has developed over time," he says.

"We recognise there is a huge history here of cafe society and we have every confidence we can enjoy, augment and join in that passion."

Exotic rarity

And he may be right. Despite some sniffiness in the French press, some younger French are expressing their excitement that they will finally be able to visit the kind of cafe they love to watch on the US TV series Friends.


It's nice sometimes to sit down have a doughnut and skinny latte - I kind of like the idea

Melissa, aged 18, says she can hardly wait: "I love Starbucks caramel coffee - it's very good and I like the concept that they're opening in Paris. I think Starbucks will be OK for French people."

An American tourist outside is equally excited when she spots the sign - this could be just the thing to help her get over the occasional twinge of homesickness.

She dismisses the idea that it is yet another sign of cultural imperialism by the US, as some newspapers here have alleged.

"I love the French cafes, but Starbucks is so popular in the States and it's become part of American culture and now it's come to France, and that's OK," she said.

"It's all over the world already, anyway."


Small family-run cafes, bastions of Paris culture, may feel the pressure

But that is the problem for many French, who do not want France to be just like the rest of the world: with standardised disposal cups of coffee - identical in 7,000 branches around the world - even if they are termed handcrafted beverages.

At the traditional Friedland cafe, customers worry that the big US coffee house chains could drive out small, family-owned cafes, even here in France.

"I don't know if I like the fact that big chains come to Paris - because we have the tradition in Paris of small cafes and they're independent," 25-year-old Marie tells me.

"I lived in the US and I liked it there but here it's different, so I'm not sure."

New tradition

Others here, though, think they could come round to the idea of Starbucks, though for them it would never replace the corner cafe or the typical Parisian petit noir coffee - a shot of espresso that goes perfectly with a Gauloise cigarette first thing in the morning.

"Usually, we like the petit noir or noisette, and not long coffees like they serve in Starbucks," says Pierre, another regular customer.

"I don't know if in these Latin countries we have the tradition of long coffees, we like espresso but it's nice sometimes to sit down have a doughnut and skinny latte - I kind of like the idea."

Just as long as the owner of the cafe does not hear him. That sort of sentiment could still earn him a rendezvous at the guillotine for treason in France.

they sell donuts in sbucks in france?? lol
not very refined.

They sell brownies at Columbus, and I love them...
(I didn't know that Columbus Coffee was French).

It's open!
http://permanent.nouvelobs.com/photos/20040116.OBS4461.jpg

BLAST Starbucks!:guns1: :guns1: :guns1:

Their product may have been needed and indeed welcome in certain parts of the US where "coffee" used to consist of vile products like Maxwell House and Taster's Choice :D, but the verve & arrogance with which Starbucks muscles in on territories with a traditional coffee culture is nothing short of revolting. Starbucks has no reason to invade France! :rant:

I'll tell you a local story. Thanks to the many French and Italians in the Bay Area and the countless European visitors who demanded a decent cup of coffee, things have been quite civilized here in the coffee department for decades. We also have local bakeries (rather than having to subsist on supermarket breads ;) ).

We had some excellent coffee shops here in Berkeley, all founded and run by a Dutchman named Alfred Peet. Everybody swarmed to Peet's for their black brews, and everybody was happy. Of course you could get a cup of lesser quality coffee in countless other establishments. :)

Then came the day when Starbucks targeted Berkeley (they had already started their campaign of taking over in other Bay Area cities, notably San Francisco). Of all places, they wanted to establish themselves in the little shopping center in my neighborhood. Our neighborhood organization did what we do best--Organize!!! We started a petition drive and persuaded all the individual small coffee purveyors write letters in opposition to the city's Zoning Board. In some cases, as with little stores run by immigrants, we ourselves wrote the letters and had the owners sign them. I remember making up some letterheads for places that didn't have any formal stationery. ;)

The city staff apparently wanted Starbucks to come in and shamelessly facilitated things for the megacompany. :mad: They even gave them a chance for a "dress rehearsal" presentation at the public library before the real hearing before the Zoning Board.

Then the big day of the hearing came. There was Starbucks with their big brass from Seattle having flown in for the occasion, armed with petitions and traffic studies and accompanied by the treacherous city staff. On the other side was my neighborhood organization, consisting of a bunch of smart, dedicated people. :cool:

During the course of the hearing it turned out that the Starbucks petitions for the company to come into the neighborhood had been signed primarily by out-of-towners while our petitions opposing Starbucks were signed by locals. Also, their traffic and parking count had been taken on a holiday, which of course made all their impact assessments worthless.

End result: there's no Starbucks in the Elmwood shopping area! :banana:

I boycott Starbucks. :colgate:

You drink Peets??? I have to have my coffee in my Peet's mug !

http://www.photoways.com/partenaires/photoways/affiche_vignette.php?a=L2J3YWNnYCg4Jj0kPDo/PiUoPX52d2w4Li0qLC0sKyYOVkFX

Excellent coffee, the beans are still very oily when they come to me meaning the roasting occured not long ago. Do you get the newsletter too ?
Extremely pricey but A1 coffee :cool:

as i am sometimes late i don't have a choice but going into starbucks (actually there is but the choice is called cafe nescafe and going there is just something i don't do) -
But given the choice i would of course go to a non chain type coffee store. But let's see how it goes in france and see if the company makes a U-turn when all there is in sight is Starbucks.

After all, it can backfire. Remenber Winchell's in LA? they were everywhere and now are nowhere to be seen -but i'm watching to see the progress of Sbucks in france. Very interesting territory to venture into if you ask me. A little like dancing on red hot coals if you catch my drift.

Another report, by Time Magazine:

A clash of civilizations?
By PENNY CAMPBELL AND JUDY FAYARD



Some Americans might still be boycotting French products, but the feeling apparently isn't mutual. When Starbucks, that bastion of U.S. coffee-drinking culture, took on the original café society and opened its first venue in Paris last week, French customers cheerfully mingled with resident Americans to try out the signature lattes and frappuccinos.

There are few concessions to French tastes: in a nation of diehard smokers, the company has boldly maintained its no-smoking rule. But in Time's highly caffeinated but unscientific poll of French patrons, the enthusiasm was almost surprising. "Bon" or even "très bon" was the verdict on the coffee. The ambience was pronounced "sympa" [friendly], the service "accueillant" [welcoming] — though in a country where waiters have a near-statutory duty to be surly that wouldn't seem to be a difficult accolade to achieve.

The only criticism was reserved for the pastries, almost universally deemed too sweet. One bypasser was less than happy with the chain's arrival: "It's the beginning of the end," she sighed. But she was an American.

I've been told that Starbucks avenue de l'Opera was very busy with long queues last Saturday.

STARBUCKS COFFEE FRANCE in the Coeur Defense building , property of UNIBAIL group

Thursday January 22nd, Starbucks Coffee France SAS opens a store in ground floor of the building with entrance on the plaza. The store has 115 m2 room open on the Esplanade of Defense. For its second store in France, Starbucks chose Coeur Defense for the exceptional character of this site. Starbucks Coffee Company is the world mark leader of retail sale and coffee torrefaction with more than 7 000 stores distributed between North America, the Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the pacific area. The company is committed to offer not only the best quality of coffee and the Starbucks Experiment, but also working while ensuring of the social, ecological and economic guarantees in the various countries and cities where it is established.

Epaladefense

[Google translated]

We have few Starbucks here in Montréal and all I can say is that I'm not a big fan ! It's just way too expensive !$!$!$!$!$

The only good point I find from the SB close of my work is the really nice terrace they got just in front of the Bibliothèque National.

I won't change my café spot anytime soon for SB !

STARBUX!!! Grrrr! :guns1:

Good to hear that they have (so far) restrained themselves to a few outlets in Montreal, YMQ. :)

A fellow SF Bay Area forumer just opened a thread in the World forums, showing "the mark of the devil" at innumerable places in San Francisco (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1309882#post1309882). Go & have a look--you get a nice feeling of SF in the process. :okay:

Thanks for the updates on Starbux' successful entry into Paris, gents. :(

@Brunob: you cutie! You still got your Peet's mug? And you get your coffee all the way over there from that fabulous establishment that's based in Berkeley? Incroyable! :cool: You're right: I encountered my first oily coffee beans many years ago at Peet's! :)

@ WH, yup, i've had it for two years and it's second in chief next to my french market mug from new orleans! But that's a morning thing, after 10 on week ends or at night, i'll have an expresso.
now, Peets ships worldwide, it's not cheap but the coffee is really outstanding.

Beside the point but i'm curious ; that safeway, is that the one on market?? i can't seem to see the cool old fashioned curved roof?

I actually went to starbucks this morning, and get along pretty well with the girls since we work in the same building. That said, you can recreate or improve by making your own creations, an evening favorite is a double expresso with a bug portion of vanilla ice cream in it! almost (well almost) beat root beer floats!

As for montreal, there are so many independants that it really isn't worth going to starbucks - what about Second cup? what do you guys in montreal think of it? i think it's got less of an attitude than starbucks customers have.

That's the Marina Safeway, brunob. :)

.

I've exprerienced Strarbucks Coffee today, the one located at Coeur Defense ( La défense)....it was soooo nice !!! I missed these kind of coffee and this atmosphere. Everything were like in US, with all those skyscraper surrounding me! Prices are not very high. I took an expresso Macchiato ( 1,75 euros )...not bad!
For sure, i'll return there, as soon as i can.

You sound almost like a convert, tonio! Starbucks will be sooo happy. :happy:

Starbucks coffee a bargain? Analysts say yes
Wed 28 July, 2004 09:54



By Chris Stetkiewicz

SEATTLE (Reuters) - After holding most prices steady for the last four years, Starbucks has room to charge more without driving away its legions of loyal customers, analysts say.

Alternately derided and praised for building a $5 billion annual business by transforming coffee from a 50-cent daily staple into a $3 treat, Starbucks Corp has let its prices slip below many of its competitors.

"Starbucks premium prices have long been the punch line in more than a few jokes," CIBC World Markets analyst John Glass wrote in a report to clients. "After several years of pricing abstention, the joke is on the competition."

Last week Seattle-based Starbucks said it expected to raise prices some time in the coming fiscal year, beginning October 4.

Glass's informal study of nine different companies serving coffee and blended drinks in eight cities found Starbucks is often the cheapest cup of regular coffee in town.

When it comes to blended, iced drinks, Starbucks' 24-ounce Frappuccino at $3.60 was 30 percent cheaper than similar drinks at specialty cafes like Tully's Coffee Corp. or Peet's Coffee and Tea Inc., though doughnut shops often sold lattes for less than Starbucks, Glass found.

That leaves room for Starbucks to boost sales and profits, or at least reduce the impact of rising prices for milk, labor and wholesale coffee beans, by raising its store prices.

"Going four years without taking a price increase is pretty remarkable," said analyst Dan Geiman at McAdams Wright Ragen. "There are a number of devotees that will still certainly favor Starbucks over 'Brand X'."

At Dunkin Donuts, a unit of Britain's Allied Domecq which enjoys a strong following among coffee drinkers in the northeastern United States, a 16-ounce latte sells for about $2.47, some 17 percent cheaper than Starbucks' $2.99 latte, Glass said.

A Starbucks spokeswoman declined to elaborate on last week's pricing announcement, which company executives labeled a "prudent" response to rising costs.

The company raised its prices by about 3 percent in 2000, following similar increases in 1994, 1997 and 1999, and another hike is due, Glass said.

"While we don't think Starbucks ever wants to get too far ahead of the competition on price, we also don't think they want to lag it," Glass wrote.

Starbucks has made great strides in recent years toward shortening customer waits in long lines and offering new products and services to boost transactions at its worldwide chain of more than 8,000 cafes.

A price hike now would accelerate growth with minimal negative feedback, Glass said.

"The one ill side effect from a price increase at Starbucks that we've been able to identify historically has been publicity. We know of no other chain where a modest price increase is front page news. But it is typically for Starbucks," Glass said.

Starbucks on Wednesday after the market close reported its slowest growth in 14 months for sales at stores open at least a year, sparking a sharp decline in shares of the world's largest coffee-shop chain.

... for stores open at least a year ...

Of course that doesn't include the newly opened Paris stores. ;) Do you have any idea how they are doing, Fabb?

Thanks for the update, btw. :) I'm still boycotting Starbucks, but I know I'm not the only reason their sales are flat. :D