Get ready: Up to 300 Starbucks stores are coming to Italy

In good news for Americans and tourists seeking home comforts in Italy – but not so good news for those who take the country’s coffee culture seriously – Starbucks announced on Thursday that it planned to open between 200 and 300 stores in Italy.

The first stores will be opened in Milan and Rome, though the opening date of the Italian flagship store has been pushed back. Initially scheduled to launch in Milan this year, Percassi said the country’s first Starbucks would come “in 2018 after June, because we are doing a big thing here.”

The venture was first announced in July last year, with Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz paying homage to Italy’s cafe culture, which first inspired him to build his coffee empire.

During his trip to Milan and Verona in the early 1980s, Shultz said he was “inspired by the craftsmanship of the Milanese barista, the spirit of the Italian people, their passion for community, their friendliness and taste for quality”.

He acknowledged the “unique challenge” of bringing the chain to Italy, and promised that the first branch would be designed “with painstaking detail and great respect for the Italian people and coffee culture”.

Question: Do you like when International chains come to your country or do you prefer to have small local shops? What are the pros and cons?

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