The One With Starbucks Opening in Argentina

So, last Friday Starbucks Coffee finally opened its doors to the Argentine public.

Much hoo ha has been speculated about its arrival for months. My friends and I created much of that commotion since JIRS made the discovery in a local newspaper article sometime late 2007. Initially, we thought it would be opened in February or March, latest. But, in true Argentine form, it opened its doors much, much later.

Jessica and I made sure our "hectic" schedules had STARBUCKS listed in for that Friday evening. Good thing it was ALL we had scheduled. I arrived first on the scene and was VERY much astonished by the long line that formed outside it's doors.

Disclaimer: Technically, Jessica arrived earlier on at Starbucks even though I arrived first at the mall. Miss G took the bus to the wrong mall coz she thought it was at the other one. HAR HAR. I was busy buying stuff at the mall and she didn't get in line on account of her "not seeing" the line to begin with. EXCUSES!

I forgot how much the temperature dropped that night, but I can assure you, it was close to zero degrees Celsius. And no amount of freezing balls could have stopped us from waiting TWO FREAKING HOURS in line to get our Starbucks drinks.

She got the white chocolate mocha (vente) and I, the caramel machiato (tall).

We went again on Saturday - and the line was DOUBLE what we experienced on Friday. We were later joined by three of her friends. And much later (after waiting for another two hours and finally getting into the doors of Starbucks), JIRS and RT joined us. I think they had earlier wanted to get some Starbucks coffee, but at seeing the long line, decided to have it at McDonald's McCafe instead (which was just across from Starbucks).

I got the white chocolate mocha (vente ) this time. Yum.

Note: Happy 10th Anniversary Shoutout to JIRS and RT. Hope for many more to come.

ps: If you two are reading this, please email the pictures that were taken that night in Starbucks, including the one with Jessica's bag full of Equal Sweeteners taken from Starbucks. Some people have NO shame.

I just have to say here that the staff at Starbucks Argentina are awesome. They are friendlier to the customers (I think they actually adhere to the philosophy of "the customer is always right", a total opposite than their counterparts in other local stores). And they all speak English - well those we interacted with. There were also like around 15-20 baristas behind the counters. In most Starbucks, there would probably be a max of around 7. Good thing, too, on account of the many people lining up for it.

So, the news are speculating that Starbucks won't last long in Argentina. They all seem to agree that the domestic market would overcome in the end.

I doubt their predictions will come true.

The local papers, news media and fortune tellers forget that tourism is one of Argentina's main incomes (if not THE biggest). And most tourists (if not ALL, not counting Uruguay) that come to Argentina have Starbucks back in their own countries. And regardless where tourists go, they will be drawn to Starbucks. Jessica told me that when she found out she was attending the semester in Buenos Aires, she cried her eyes out when she learnt that there were no Starbucks in the country.

Second factor that the media forgot to take into account is the power of the "Younger Generation Spending". More and more younger consumers are making up the bigger slice of the consumer pie. And if one thing younger consumers spend money on, it's stuff that will make them look cool. And as it is, Argies (despite bad talking the American Government) secretly wants badly to be Americanised. And what's more American than a Starbucks Vente on the go?

In Argentina, Starbucks' joint-venture is that with the Alsea company, a leading restaurant operator in Latin America, responsible for the likes of Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks Coffee, Burger King, Popeyes and Chili’s Grill & Bar. Alsea's success with the Starbucks franchise started in the region with Mexico - over 150 stores in five years have been opened.

On the other hand, there is what analysts call the "Starbucks effect" - a decline in the consumption of expendable goods like takeout coffee in response to ever-higher fuel bills. If the current food crisis and energy problems persist, higher cost-coffees such as that in Starbucks (or in local cafes, which have the same prices anyway) will be shelved for more important daily goods.

So, we'll have to see how it goes. Meanwhile, I have decided that I shall wait a few more weeks before I go back to the Starbucks here. Just seems to me that it's not worth waiting in line in the freaking cold for two hours for a cuppa joe's.

That said, I am craving to try out their dulche de leche coffee.