First ever Italian Starbucks to open in Milan
‘We come with humility and respect’, says US coffee chain’s chairman
Italy is to get its first-ever Starbucks, leading the firm’s chairman to assure outraged locals: “We are not coming here to teach Italians how to make coffee”.
The Milan branch, housed in a historic former post office in Piazza Cordusio, will be the chain’s largest outlet in Europe when it opens in September, employing around 150 workers.
For its first venture in a country which considers itself the gold standard of coffee, the US-based firm, which has more than 27,000 outlets around the world, is proceeding with tangible caution.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“We're coming here with humility and respect, to show what we've learned,” executive chairman Howard Schulz said at a conference in Milan on Monday.
The Italian opening represents a kind of full circle for Schulz, who says he was inspired to start up the coffee chain after a visit to the city in 1983. “My imagination was captured by Italian coffee,” he said.
However, “Starbucks has a battle on its hands to make sure its arrival doesn't leave a bitter taste in the mouths of Italian coffee lovers”, who guzzle down six billion espressos every year, says The Local.
The main challenge will be convincing Italian coffee drinkers, used to gulping down their drink at a counter on their way, to open their minds to the more drawn-out Starbucks experience.
Starbucks is a sort of “public lounge”, Milano Today told its readers, “where you can stop to eat, but also relax, work and chat”.
Italy has long been resistant to the incursion of foreign takeaway chains. The nation’s first McDonald’s opened in Rome amid much controversy in 1985, years after the golden arches had arrived in most other Western European nations.
The move to Italy proved “especially difficult”, says LifeinItaly.com. Fashion designer Valentino, headquartered a few doors away, “sued the chain, maintaining the smell of their fries was ruining his clothes”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why Man United finally lost patience with ten Hag
Talking Point After another loss United sacked ten Hag in hopes of success in the Champion's League
By The Week UK Published
-
Who are the markets backing in the US election?
Talking Point Speculators are piling in on the Trump trade. A Harris victory would come as a surprise
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: November 3, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Can Starbucks' new CEO revive the company?
Today's Big Question Brian Niccol has been the CEO of Chipotle since 2018 but is now moving to the coffee chain
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
How did Starbucks 'fall from grace'?
The Explainer The coffee giant faces lower quarterly sales. Is it the economy, or have the drinks grown stale?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Silvio Berlusconi’s death triggers real-life Succession drama
feature How the five children of Italy’s former prime minister will divide his estate and business assets is a matter of much speculation
By Richard Windsor Published
-
Monte dei Paschi bailout looms as Italy approves €20bn banks rescue plan
Speed Read World's oldest bank expected to announce it has failed to raise €5bn from the private sector
By The Week Staff Last updated