Starbucks Korea is planning to add at least 100 outlets this year after recently opening the 2003rd store in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, an industry source said Thursday.
The Seattle-based coffee giant introduced its first store in front of Ewha Womans University in Seoul in 1999 in partnership with local retailer Shinsegae Group.
Korea now ranks third in terms of the number of Starbucks outlets after the US with 16,941 stores and China with 7596, a person familiar with the matter told Yonhap News Agency. There are 1986 Starbucks outlets in Japan.
Starbucks Korea is widely expected to report a record 3 trillion won (US$2.09 billion) in sales for 2024, given its sales for the January-October period jumped 6.2 per cent on-year to $1.5 billion, the person said.
In 2023, the company posted sales of $2.04 billion.
Its strong performance has been partly attributed to its aggressive marketing efforts that included its collaboration with Warner Brothers to launch Harry Potter-inspired products and differentiated customer services.
The company introduced vibration bells at its outlets in March 2023 to let its customers know when their coffee or meal is ready, replacing the “call my name” service where customers’ names or nicknames are called out loud.
Starbucks coffee has also been available on major delivery app Baedal Minjok, or Baemin, since April 2024.
Shinsegae’s discount store chain E-Mart Inc holds a 67.5 per cent stake in the coffee chain South Korea and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) owns the remaining 32.5 per cent stake.
This story was originally published by Korea Bizwire.
Source: Inside Retail Asia
