Starbucks set to open first Croatian store?
- by croatiaweek
- in Business
19 February 2019 – After opening their first store in Italy late last year, it seems that American coffee chain could set to open its first store in Croatia.
There have been rumours circulating business circles in Croatia that the world’s most popular coffee chain are set to arrive in Zagreb. According to novac.hr, the first Starbucks in Croatia is set to open at the Centar Cvjetni shopping centre in downtown Zagreb.
The three-level restaurant My Way at the centre, which is owned by Supernova Group, is set to close down at the start of March, and according to reports the space is set to be taken over by Starbucks.
“At the moment we are not able to confirm or reject the possibility of that, or any other tenant for that mentioned space. I can only confirm that Supernova Group and Hoto Cvjetni have terminated the Lease Agreement in connection My Way,” Supernova Group spokesperson Blažena Lokin told novac.hr.
Lokin added that Supernova is currently negotiating with a number of large foreign gastro brands for the My Way space and that their wish for Croatia is to ‘bring something which is not here, something different.’
This is not the first time there has been talk of Starbucks arriving in Croatia. Back in 2010, a Starbucks store was set to open at Arena Center in Zagreb.
Croatians enjoying sitting and drinking coffee for a long time and the ‘coffee to go’ culture in Croatia has not developed. This was evident when UK chain Costa Coffee opened cafes in Split in 2008 and in Zagreb but closed only a few months after opening.
Starbucks operates in 76 countries around the world with close to 30,000 stores. In 2018, Starbucks opened their first store in Italy.
