QCOSTARICA – With seven existing stores and the eight about to open in Los Yoses, Starbucks in Costa Rica plans to triple that, opening 15 more in the next five years.
The more than a coffee shop chain, Monica Bianchini, manager of the brand in the country, would not reveal the location of the news stores, nor the investment being made, only saying the new stores will be where the customers want them to be.
Starbucks is currently located in Escazu (San Rafael and Guachipelin), Moravia, Curridabat, Pinares, Alajuela and Sabana Oeste, across from the National Stadium.
The opening of the Los Yoses store, located in the old Brenes Montealegre house and the first to feature a drive-thru, is expected today, October 15.
Starbucks landed in Costa Rica in June 2012, with its first location in the Avenida Escazu commercial centre.
Since then, competition in the coffee shop market from international operators includes the arrival of Colombia’s Juan Valdez (currently with only one location, in La Sabana Oeste (bulevar de Rohrmoser, across from McDonalds); Italy’s Lavazza, with two locations, in La Sabana (across from Juan Valdez) and the San Jose international airport terminal; and to a lesser extent, Cinnabon, with six locations including Liberia, Guanacaste.