Starbucks, the world's largest café chain, has commissioned a Dublin-based architecture firm to design 30 stores for what is expected to be its long-awaited launch into the Irish market later this year. The multi-billion dollar venture plans to open its first outlet in Northern Ireland and then initiate a rapid roll-out of 29 coffee houses across the country, writes Gretchen Friemann
Mr Robbie Cohen, an architect with Douglas Wallace, which was responsible for the design of the five-star Morrison Hotel, is drawing up the blueprints for the Northern Ireland outlet at the request of Starbucks's London office, but declined to discuss the project due to a confidentiality contract.
The corporation's UK marketing director, Ms Cathy Heseltine, was also unavailable for comment.
Although an official announcement of the Irish launch may not be made for some weeks, the enlistment of an architecture firm confirms years of speculation that the Republic's accelerating café market is ripe for consolidation by a major international player. And they don't come any bigger than Starbucks. The café chain, whose green-and-white mermaid trademark is recognised in over 32 countries, has pursued a relentless overseas expansion policy recently after its near saturation of the US market began to undermine its ability to grind out new profits.
Last month Paris became the latest city to feature on what the Economist dubs its "lattenomics" scale, which shows whether currencies are at their "correct" level against the dollar by comparing the cost of a Starbucks tall latte around the world. The French capital now ranks as one of the most expensive cities in the world to buy a Starbucks coffee, with Bangkok qualifying as the cheapest, as the Thai currency is 31 per cent undervalued against the dollar.
However, such rapid international recognition has come at a price, with anti-globalisation and anti-war protesters regularly targeting the company as a symbol of US cultural imperialism.
Starbucks to launch 30 Irish outlets: Commercial Property