|
Starbucks announces $5 million fund in China
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-19 19:51 Starbucks, which opened in China in 1999, has only 140 outlets in the
country, a small fraction of its almost 6,000 stores in the United States.
However, Schultz said, the company was aiming to increase its Chinese
presence significantly.
"We have big opportunity in China," he said. "We think the number of stores
here can rival the number in North America. We're in the embryonic stage here."
Starbucks push into China coincides with a rapid rise in disposable incomes
among members of the country's emerging middle class in large cities like
Beijing and Shanghai.
Other American food franchises including McDonald's and Kentucky Fried
Chicken dot the country's urban landscape, attracting customers with the promise
of an attractive product served in a clean environment at a reasonable price.
Schultz said Chinese consumers spent more time in Starbucks outlets than
their counterparts in Europe or the United States, possibly because of the
relatively cramped nature of Chinese apartments.
"Chinese consumers use the stores as an extension as home or work," he
said.
|
 | | | Taiwan scholar Li Ao arrives in Beijing | | |  | | | Heavy rains in Jinan | | |  | | | Flight competition in Hangzhou | | |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top China
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
