March 13, 2012
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Amsterdam, Netherlands
Speaking of coffee (and tea); this is what's going on just outside the office building at the moment. For years, the Netherlands was one of the few European countries where there were no Starbucks shops, even though Starbucks's European headquarters are located just outside Amsterdam. Then, two years ago, three shops opened at the airport (franchised) and some others opened not too much later in some railway stations (again, franchised) - but still no Starbucks shops in any Dutch high streets.
Then, at the end of last year, much to the excitement of some of my colleagues and friends, two shops opened in Amsterdam city centre. One on Leidsestraat, aimed at tourists, and one on Beethovenstraat, in the affluent Zuid part of town, aimed at business people. Those two shops seem to have opened the floodgates. Suddenly you see Starbucks shops everywhere, and the most recent one is opening just outside our office, at the entrance of Zuid station. I hardly ever go to Starbucks (typically only when I'm in the US, or there's the odd time when I'm in London, but that's it) so I won't be visiting this one any time soon, but the expansion of the American coffee company is interesting to see none the less.
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