Starbucks to finally open in ultimate coffee market

Photo: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz at Milan’s Duomo Cathedral

Starbucks Coffee Company will enter the country whose coffee culture inspired the founding of the mega-brand in the first place.



Starbucks will open its first store in Italy, in Milan, in early 2017, in partnership with Italian firm Percassi, who will act as the local licensee. Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Schultz has long cited a journey he made 33 years to Milan and Verona as giving him the inspiration for his company, which now operates 21,000 stores in 70 countries.



“Starbucks history is directly linked to the way the Italians created and executed the perfect shot of espresso,” said Schultz. “Everything that we’ve done sits on the foundation of those wonderful experiences that many of us have had in Italy, and we’ve aspired to be a respectful steward of that legacy for 45 years. Now we’re going to try, with great humility and respect, to share what we’ve been doing and what we’ve learned through our first retail presence in Italy.”



While other stores in Italy are planned, Starbucks did not specify the total number. Schultz noted that the Milan store will be designed “with painstaking detail and great respect for the Italian people and coffee culture.”



“And, my hope is that we will create a sense of pride for our partners – so much so that every partner who sees our store or walks through the doors will say: ‘We got it right,’” he said.