Starbucks in Medellín has opened two more coffee shops in the city. On Wednesday, December 14, Starbucks opened its second coffee shop in Medellín located in Santafé mall in El Poblado.
And today the company is scheduled to open its third coffee shop in Medellín located in Oviedo mall in El Poblado.
Starbucks opened its first store in Medellín on September 1. And less than four months later the company now has two more coffee shops in Medellín for a total of three.
The new Starbucks in Santafé mall is located on the second floor near the Victoria’s Secret store. The new Starbucks in Oviedo mall is located a short walk behind Café le Gris to the right, which is near the entrance to the mall.
Both of the new mall-located Starbucks in Medellín are smaller then the first Starbucks in Medellín, which is a large stand-alone store.
There was a line at the new Starbucks in Santafé when I went on Sunday. This was nothing like the line at the company’s first store in Bogotá back in July 2014.
I understand on its opening day in 2014, the first Bogotá Starbucks had people waiting for hours in a line that stretched outside the door and along the street.
Starbucks originally entered the Colombian market back on July 14, 2014 with its first store in Bogotá. I happened to be in Bogotá two weeks after its first store in Colombia opened and I wrote about it on this website.
Starbucks now has 13 coffee shops in Colombia: 10 in Bogotá and three in Medellín. According to a report in the El Colombiano newspaper, Starbucks now plans to have up to 10 coffee shops in Medellín by the end of next year.
The company plans to have a total of 50 stores in Colombia by 2019
Starbucks’ business in Colombian market is a joint venture with Alsea and Grupo Nutresa. Alsea is a big restaurant operator in Latin America running several brands including Burger King, Domino’s Pizza and P.F Chang’s.
Note the above photo is the new Starbucks in Medellín located in Santafé mall.
Starbucks in Oviedo mall, before first day opening
The Menu at Starbucks in Medellín
The menu at the two new stores includes Coffee, Espresso, Teas, Hot Chocolate and Frappuccino.
Prices at both new stores are the same as is found in the first Starbucks in Medellín. Black coffee (tinto) comes in four sizes ranging in prices from 3,600 pesos to 4,900 pesos.
An American Espresso costs 4,500 pesos for a small, 5,000 pesos for a medium and 5,400 pesos for a large.
Hot Chocolate costs 7,400 pesos for a small, 7,900 pesos for a medium and 8,500 pesos for a large.
Caramel Frappuccino costs 9,300 pesos for a small, 10,200 pesos for a medium and 10,900 pesos for a large.
Starbucks in Latin America
Starbucks is a massive company with over 23,000 retail stores located in 65 countries. The company has been in Latin America since 2002 starting out in Mexico and Puerto Rico. The company now has 1,000 stores in 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Starbucks opened its first store in Mexico 15 years ago and the company now has over 430 stores in Mexico.
Currently, Starbucks in Colombia reportedly generates over 170 direct jobs. The projection for the company is to reach up to 1,000 jobs when its goal of 50 stores is completed by 2019.
The company expects that it will likely enter another city in Colombia next year. My bet is this likely will be in Cartagena.
Starbucks buys about 400 million pounds of coffee per year and more than half of that comes from Latin America, mainly from Colombia.
Starbucks claims its stores in Colombia serve 100 percent locally sourced and roasted coffee for in-store beverages to honor the country’s coffee heritage and the company’s 45-year history of sourcing premium arabica coffee from the region.
In Colombia, Starbucks competes with Juan Valdéz with over 200 stores in the country. Juan Valdéz has stores in 16 additional countries including the United States.
Juan Valdéz’s response to Starbucks’ initial store in Bogotá, Colombia was to open a café in downtown Miami. Juan Valdéz now has six cafés in Maimi and is looking to open more in South Florida.
The first Starbucks in Medellín
The Bottom Line
The first coffee shop of Starbucks in Medellín is a success. It’s been fairly busy each time I have walked by it recently. So the company quickly opened two more coffee shops in Medellín. And it plans to open up to seven more Starbucks in Medellín next year.
I suspect several of the additional coffee shops will be located in malls in Medellín. These are smaller and less expensive to open. And they are quicker and easier to open.
While some expats aren’t happy to see Starbucks in the city, I personally see this as a good thing. Starbucks is selling 100% Colombian coffee in its stores here in Colombia and they employee Colombians. So they are supporting the local economy.
The fact that Starbucks chose to enter the market is Colombia two and a half years ago is because Colombia has a growing economy. And it is underserved with upscale coffeehouses.
Starbucks was already a big coffee buyer in Colombia so why not also sell coffee in Colombia. To continue growing Starbucks has to expand in international markets as the US market is pretty saturated.
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