Taste Holdings on Thursday announced that the first Starbucks stores in SA would be opened in Rosebank and the Mall of Africa in Midrand in late April.
The restaurant franchise group in July last year announced that it had signed a licence agreement with the world’s largest coffee chain.
SA’s coffee culture has grown as a deluge of artisanal roasteries and niche chains serve up java fixes to a growing market.
“In selecting our locations‚ we received an unprecedented response from landlords and property owners‚” Taste Holdings CEO Carlo Gonzaga said.
The 485m² Starbucks Rosebank store will be located at the corner of Cradock and Tyrwhitt Avenues — situated between the Gautrain station and the Rosebank taxi rank. The Mall of Africa store will be located on the centre’s upper level and will be 289m².
Despite the higher cost of living and economic pressures‚ quick-service dining and the propensity to shop‚ particularly for clothing and footwear‚ continues unabated among middle-upper income shoppers.
A swathe of global operators including Krispy Kreme‚ H&M and Forever 21 have set up shop in the country to target brand- and status-hungry consumers.
Taste’s agreement gives it exclusive rights to develop New York Stock Exchange-listed Starbucks outlets across SA. It will own and operate the stores directly. The group already holds the licence agreement to develop US brand Domino’s Pizza in SA. Starbucks‚ which was founded in 1971‚ has more than 22‚000 stores around the globe.
The company this week said it would expand into Italy.
Earlier this year Grand Parade Investments (GPI)‚ which brought Burger King to SA in 2013 signed a franchise agreement with Nasdaq-listed Dunkin’ Brands to open as many as 250 Dunkin’ Donuts and 70 Baskin Robbins stores in SA.
Meanwhile‚ Famous Brands inked a deal with French chain PAUL to bring the bakery-café establishment to SA.
Source: AFP
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