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COFFEE

Starbucks preps for full-on Swedish invasion

Starbucks coffee shops may soon be a familiar sight on Stockholm streets as the US chain aims to beef up its presence in Scandinavia following a "milestone" deal with a Norwegian partner.

Starbucks preps for full-on Swedish invasion

In advance of its planned conquest of the region’s lucrative coffee shop market, Starbucks has signed a deal with Norway’s Umeo Restaurant Group (URG).

The group, run by Norwegian businessman Jens Ulltveit-Moe, secured the rights to operate the global coffee shop giant in Scandinavia following talks with Starbucks founder Howard Schultz in June, according to Norwegian business daily Dagens Næringsliv.

“We are talking about something in the region of several hundred million (kroner). If we are going to build a brand the right way, it will take time. If we do it right, it will give a good return,” Ulltveit-Moe told the paper.

Starbucks has confirmed the agreement in a statement, expressing satisfaction that it had found “a strong partner in Umeo Restaurant Group for our expansion in Scandinavia”.

Michelle Gass, head of Starbucks operations in Europe, also stressed the significance of the deal

“This is a milestone deal,” she told the Wall Street Journal.

The financial crisis in the eurozone has put the brakes on Starbucks’ long-intended expansion into Scandinavia, a region with a high-standard of living and an established taste for coffee.

“Scandinavia has long been on high on our list. You are among those who drink most coffee in the world and have high purchasing power,” Gass told Dagens Næringsliv.

While Gass refused to say exactly how many Starbucks shops were planned for Sweden and Norway, she told the Wall Street Journal the company is looking to open a “significant” number of stores.

In addition, Starbucks hopes to rely on social media and other innovative PR techniques to build brand awareness.

The Seattle-based brand currently has only a toe-hold in Sweden, with shops at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport, as well as the central train stations in Gothenburg and Malmö.

And while the US-based giant’s presence remains dwarfed by local favourites Wayne’s Coffee and Espresso House, Ulltveit-Moe is bullish on Starbucks’ chances, telling the Wall Street Journal that Swedes and Norwegians have “an appreciation for American products”.

URG, which already runs about 250 licensed restaurants throughout Scandinavia, including Burger King and TGI Fridays, will initially expand the brand in Norway and Sweden and according to the agreement will own all the proposed coffee shops themselves. Further financial details of the agreement with Starbucks are yet to be released.

The Local/dl

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ECONOMY

Paris’ extended café terraces can become permanent, city hall rules

The temporary extension to Paris café terraces that sprang up last year to help owners stick to social distancing rules can become permanent summer fixtures of the capital, city hall announced on Monday.

Paris' extended café terraces can become permanent, city hall rules
Many Paris cafés have expanded their outdoor areas into streets or parking spaces. Photo: Thomas Coex/AFP

But they will have to shut down by 10pm so that residents won’t be kept awake by boisterous crowds, a problem that has exasperated neighbourhood groups.

The city turned over thousands of parking spaces last year to beleaguered restaurant and café owners who were no longer allowed to serve indoors as the pandemic raged.

Paris city authorities ruled that the terraces could stay in place this summer, prompting many café or bar owners to invest in more permanent structures that the often ramshackle extensions that sprang up in 2020.

But they have now decided that the extended spaces can become permanent summer features of the city – under certain conditions.

Terraces will have to remain without closed walls or roofs, but plants and other greenery will be encouraged, with an annual contest for the most attractive designs.

“Roofs, tarps, reception tents, wooden pallets and advertising will be prohibited,” the deputy mayor in charge of commerce, Olivia Polski, told AFP.

The terrasses éphémères (temporary terraces) will now be known as terrasses estival (summer terraces) and can return in the summers to come when -hopefully – the pandemic will be over.

Business owners will be charged a fee by City Hall for their temporary terraces, but this year that will be waived until September 30th, Franck Delvaux, president of the hospitality industry union, told France Info.

He said: “There was a need to regulate them. If we wanted to make them permanent so that they would become summer terraces, at some point we needed regulation so that there would be equality of rules.

“From now on, they will have to be paid for. But here too, we have made a lot of progress in our negotiations in securing an exemption until September 30th, which will allow the profession to work all summer with free fees.”

Outdoor seating can also be extended on adjacent squares and sidewalks, and also in front of neighbouring businesses if they give approval.

No heating or music systems will be allowed, and Polski said the city would step up deployments of specially developed “Meduse” microphones for pinpointing the sources of noise pollution across the city.

France’s cafés, bars and restaurants reopened on May 19th after a six-month closure. Initially they were only allowed to serve outdoors, but from Wednesday indoor areas will be allowed to reopen, while the curfew is moved back to 11pm.

READ ALSO Travel, bars and curfew – what changes in France on Wednesday

Delvaux added: “Today, when you walk around Paris, the terraces are full. It’s really l’art de vivre (the art of living).

“It’s what brings tourists to Paris.”

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