The Starbucks brand has tremendous opportunity overseas, but it will not come easy. Starbucks's JV partner is proof that there are a few bumps in the road. For the third time in four tears, Starbucks appointed a new managing director to run the operations. Starbucks, which opened its first outlet in France in 2004, only has 41 stores in the country. One of the issues the company faces is the French culture is not a to-go culture.
Reading the Starbucks blogs in France I found a post that sums it all up:
Let's compare a shot of espresso in France to one in a Starbucks:
In France: a piping-hot demitasse served in a small ceramic cup with a couple cubes of sugar, the rich aroma suffusing the atmosphere.
In Starbucks: 1.5 ounces of weak, rapidly cooling beverage in the bottom of a 12-ounce "Dixie cup", that both smells and tastes like cardboard.
Reading the Starbucks blogs in France I found a post that sums it all up:
Let's compare a shot of espresso in France to one in a Starbucks:
In France: a piping-hot demitasse served in a small ceramic cup with a couple cubes of sugar, the rich aroma suffusing the atmosphere.
In Starbucks: 1.5 ounces of weak, rapidly cooling beverage in the bottom of a 12-ounce "Dixie cup", that both smells and tastes like cardboard.