Schultz did a quick tour of the store, which recently won Starbucks' "Best New Core Store Design in Asia" in 2013. The Starbucks store at The Grove beat out designs submitted by 111 Starbucks outlets around Asia.
The Starbucks shop has a uniquely Philippine resort theme that matches the aesthetics of The Grove by Rockwell. Located along C5, the 5.4 hectare The Grove property will feature six residential towers.
Schultz, who is in Manila only for a day, said this was his second visit to the Philippines. He chatted with the store manager and baristas, and posed for photos with some customers.
He also attended the opening of the new Starbucks store with drive-thru in Libis.
Rustan Coffee Corp., local franchise holder of Starbucks and a member of the Rustan Group of Companies, opened the first store in the Philippines at 6750 Ayala Avenue in December 1997.
At that time, the Philippines was only the third market to open outside North America. According to the Starbucks Philippines website, to date there are 195 Starbucks branches throughout the country.
The coffee chain now has 18,000 outlets around the world, with revenues of $13.3 billion in 2012. Starbucks has seen strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly China where it has more than 800 stores and Japan where it has 975 stores as of end 2012.
source: abs-cbnnews.com
