“We follow a fiscal year which ends every September 30. That’s our cycle. So we would have opened 18 stores from October 1 of last year to September of this year,” Starbucks Philippines Chief Operating Officer Noey Lopez told the BusinessMirror over the weekend.
He declined to reveal the exact locations and the amount of investment for the soon-to-open Starbucks outlets.
Lopez noted that the company’s expansion strategy indicates that the coffee chain operation remains an “excellent business” amid the emergence of rival tea shops in the market.
“I think it’s very vibrant, competitive and good for the customers. Having said that, yes, it’s still a very sustainable business,” he stressed.
For the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world, the Philippines remains a “very important market” for Starbucks given its strong economy, improved infrastructure and new property developments now taking place.
“So for a business like ours, there’s a lot of opportunity. And we want to bring Starbucks to as many people as we can. We do it one customer, one cup of coffee at a time in the one store at a time,” Lopez said.
With its focus on continued delivery of the “Starbucks Experience” to the customers, the company recently opened its 215th store in the new headquarters of Globe Telecom in Fort Bonifacio.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
