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US giant Starbucks takes on Vienna's cafe society
( 2001-11-11 14:44 ) (7 )

US coffee giant Starbucks, whose brand is known worldwide from New York to Lebanon, is set for perhaps its biggest challenge yet: slipping in beside the famous Kaffeehaeuser, or coffee-houses of Vienna.

Life in the Austrian capital could not be imagined without the dimly lit coffee houses where snooty waiters in dinner jackets serve "Melanges" and "Einspaenner" to regulars who sit for hours over one coffee and a newspaper.

Starbucks' whitewashed, fast-food style self-service could hardly be more different. But Franz Holzschuh, chief executive officer of Austria Star, the Austrian arm of Starbucks, is ready to take on the challenge.

"It is exciting to come to Austria because of its coffee house tradition, but Starbucks is convinced that its cafes, its concept and the Starbucks experience will be an extension of this tradition," he told AFP.

Starbucks is to open on December 8 in Vienna's famous shopping street Kaernterstrasse, just a stone's throw from the world famous Hotel Sacher, a 125-year-old stalwart of Austrian coffee culture.

But the chain does not plan to rival the traditional Viennese coffee service, which comes on a small silver tray flanked by a glass of water on which a spoon is elegantly posed.

In Starbucks customers queue at a self-service counter and can choose the size, temperature and flavour of their coffee from a lengthy menu board. Smokers can choose to have their coffee in a paper cup to drink outside the non-smoking cafe.

Starbucks, which has already created 80 jobs in Austria, plans to open 12 to 15 more outlets across the Alpine republic in the next year as part of its huge global expansion plan, a spokesman said.

The chain's European offensive has already conquered the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

"Our earlier-than-expected entry into Austria has been largely influenced by the better than expected performance of our stores in Zurich," Switzerland, said Peter Maslen, president of Starbucks Coffee International.

"The enthusiastic acceptance of the Starbucks brand not only in Switzerland, but also in all of our international markets has bolstered our confidence in accelerating our expansion worldwide," he added.

On November 1, Starbucks had 4,821 outlets across the globe including cafes in Singapore, Lebanon, Kuwait and Canada. On average the chain opens three new cafes every day.

But Hotel Sacher, founded in 1876 for the Viennese to drink coffee and enjoy its famous eponymous Sachertorte chocolate cake, does not see the US giant as a threat.

"We are not only a long-established coffee house, we are also Starbucks' neighbours," hotel owner Elizabeth Guertler told AFP.

"I welcome it, because every new business brings more customers and makes the area more lively," she said.

The first foreigners to bring coffee to Vienna were the Turks, who besieged the city in 1683 but left their coffee beans behind when the imperial army drove them out.

A merchant, Herr Kolschitsky, opened Vienna's first official coffee house, Kolschitsky's Kaffee Schrank (Coffee Cupboard), which became a focal point of the city.

From the late eighteenth century onwards, Vienna's famous composers, artists and doctors have sipped black brews and discussed their work in the cosy atmospheres of these cafes.