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Starbucks set to open first coffee shop in central Rome

American coffee chain Starbucks is set to open a three-storey outlet in Rome’s historic centre in April as it continues its expansion across Italy.

Published: 24 March 2023 10:54 CET
Starbucks set to open first coffee shop in central Rome
A Starbucks cafe in Milan. The US multinational continues to expand in Italy and is now preparing to open its first outlet in central Rome. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP)

A new Starbucks cafe will open its doors in downtown Rome at Piazza Montecitorio, opposite the Italian parliament building, Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper reported on Thursday.

A Starbucks ‘coming soon’ sign appeared this week on the facade of a former restaurant close to Palazzo Montecitorio, the seat of the Italy’s lower house of parliament.

Renovation work is currently underway and the new branch is expected to open by the end of April, Repubblica reported.

The US-based multinational has long been rumoured to be opening an outlet at an unknown location in Rome’s city centre following its success in Milan and elsewhere.

Starbucks has 25 outlets in Italy so far, despite predictions that it would not last long in the country famed as Europe’s coffee capital and the home of espresso shots drunk standing at the counter at family-owned bars.

READ ALSO: ‘Unexpected flavour’: Starbucks launches olive oil coffee in Italy

So far, only one of these outlets is in the south of Italy – a branch opened at the Castel Romano shopping mall on the outskirts of Rome in April 2022.

Starbucks’ locations in Italy are mainly in and around Milan and other parts of northern Italy, which is more affluent and has a higher ratio of international residents than the south.

But local media has frequently speculated about the opening of more branches in Rome as part of Starbucks’ plans to expand in Italy throughout 2023.

Starbucks also planned to open an outlet near Rome’s central Termini train station, La Repubblica reported in September 2022, though there’s no sign of it yet.

READ ALSO: Where, when and how to drink coffee like an Italian

Starbucks has been in Italy since 2018, when it opened a branch at Piazza Cordusio in Milan, saying it was entering the Italian market with “humility and respect”.

The multinational caused a stir in February when it launched a range of olive-oil infused coffee-based drinks at its Italian stores.

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ROME

‘One for every district’: Starbucks begins southern expansion in central Rome

American coffee giant Starbucks opened the doors to its first outlet in Rome's historic centre on Thursday, as the company announced plans for more branches across the capital as well as in Naples and Bari.

Published: 11 May 2023 16:01 CEST
'One for every district': Starbucks begins southern expansion in central Rome

Rome residents and visitors queued down the street on Thursday to get a taste of Starbucks’ newest opening in Italy, as the multinational opened the doors to its first branch in Rome.

The latest outlet in Italy, where the company has some 26 stores already, opened in a refurbished two-storey building opposite the Italian parliament building, Palazzo Montecitorio, in the heart of Rome’s historic centre.

The menu featured Starbucks’ controversial new olive oil-infused coffee drinks as well as espresso priced at €1.40 or €2.80 – compared to the typical price locally of around €1.

While the shop’s signage was discreet, a small crowd was gathered outside on Thursday to snap photos and comment on the new addition.

“I have to take a photo for my daughter,” commented one, while another passer-by said of the arrival: “This is really bad for Rome.”

READ ALSO: Where, when and how to drink coffee like an Italian

Thursday’s opening came around a year after a branch opened its doors at the Castel Romano shopping centre in the city’s suburbs.

Though views on the chain’s presence in Italy are decidedly mixed, the latest opening appeared to prove the success of the US company’s operations in Italy as it marked the first step in a major expansion into the south of country.

The new Starbucks branch in central Rome after it opened on Thursday, May 11th. Photo: Elaine Allaby/The Local Italy

Vincenzo Catrambone, General Manager of Starbucks for Percassi, the coffee giant’s partner in Italy, stated on Thursday: “In Rome, the goal is to open several branches, one for each district in the capital.”

“After the opening in Milan, we received many requests to open in Rome and finally today we are in the heart of the city.”

He confirmed that two outlets would open at the city’s main Termini train station “in a few days”, with one branch to be located upstairs and the other on the ground floor according to local media reports.

Another store is set to open in Genoa next week.

The company also announced on Thursday morning that it is planning to open branches in Naples and Bari as it pushes ahead with an expansion further south.

The company is planning to open 13 more Italian outlets this year, reaching a total of 36 across the country. 

Starbucks has been operating in wealthier northern Italy since it first opened in Milan in 2018, when there were widespread predictions of its imminent failure in a country famed as Europe’s coffee capital and the home of espresso shots drunk standing at the counter at family-owned bars. 

But the south of the country – where tradition is stronger and disposable incomes lower – is seen by multinational fast-food chains as a harder market to crack.

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