Starbucks, the hyper-ubiquitous coffee house chain recently announced they’re closing a large chunk of their Australian shops. Only 23 of the existing 84 stores will remain open, mostly the stores in the urban areas of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.This news comes on the heels of earlier announcements of 600 store closures in the US. It goes to show, sometimes even a universally liked chain has the potential to fail, especially if it clashes with deep seated cultural tastes.
The Financial Times explains:
The chain has been the victim of an ill-fated push in Australia, a market it only entered in 2000. Starbucks was snubbed by many Australians who have grown up on a diet of quality European-style coffee introduced in the last century to Australia by immigrants, especially from Italy.
Yeah, no one goes to Starbucks there. McDonald’s is everywhere though.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
long live gloria jean’s
July 30th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Good taste finally prevails.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Gloria Jeans is the worst!! Crappy coffee and awful cakes and pastries. Topped off by the Hillsong/religious connection. I wouldn’t go there if they gave the stuff away.
You can’t beat small, individually owned and operated cafes - and we are spoiled for choice in Australia. The Starbucks situation doesn’t surprise me in the least - I always thought their products were very ordinary. And Gloria Jeans and other chains are just as bad.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:18 pm