Starbucks Korea to Add North of 100 Outlets This Year: Source | Be Korea-savvy

Starbucks Korea to Add North of 100 Outlets This Year: Source


This photo taken on Jan. 21, 2025, shows a Starbucks outlet in Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)

This photo taken on Jan. 21, 2025, shows a Starbucks outlet in Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)

SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Korea Bizwire)Starbucks Korea is planning to add at least 100 outlets this year after recently opening the 2,003rd 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 United States with 16,941 stores and China with 7,596, a person familiar with the matter told Yonhap News Agency. There are 1,986 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 percent on-year to 2.28 trillion won, the person said.

In 2023, the company posted sales of 2.93 trillion won.

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 percent stake in the coffee chain here and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC) owns the remaining 32.5 percent stake.

(Yonhap)

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