U.S. coffee giant Starbucks will open two more coffee shops in Costa Rica by the end of the year, one east and one west of the Greater Metropolitan Area. The total number of Starbucks stores in Costa Rica by the end of 2013 will be four.
Monica Bianchini, Starbucks local brand manager, told the weekly El Financiero that one of the shops will open in early October, but company policy forbids her from disclosing the location. A second store is still under negotiation, but it likely will open by the end of this year, too.
Bianchini said expansion plans will continue in 2014, and the main factor for a new location is high customer traffic.
Starbucks began operations in Costa Rica on June 20 last year and currently employs 40 people in its two cafes in Escazú, southwest of San José, and Moravia, north of the capital. Each store serves an average of 300-400 customers daily, according to Bianchini.
The Seattle-based company expanded its presence in Costa Rica in March these year with the purchase of a 240-hectare farm in the foothills of the Poás Volcano in Alajuela, which will be converted into a coffee research center.
