Starbucks: opens its first store in Uruguay

Seattle / WA. (sc) Starbucks Corporation has arrived in Uruguay, with its first store opening in Montevideo Shopping mall in the capital city today. The store has a unique design and offers a wide range of «Starbucks» beverages and food, including Starbucks 100 percent arabica coffees from Latin America and around the world. International retail and restaurant operator Alsea exclusively owns and operates Starbucks stores in the country.

«Our first store in the beautiful country of Uruguay marks a key milestone for our expansion in Latin America», said Ricardo Rico, Starbucks general manager and vice president for Latin America, who attended the opening celebrations in Montevideo. «At Starbucks we all look forward to welcoming customers to the beautiful Montevideo store and sharing some of the finest coffees from around the world served by our passionate and knowledgeable baristas. We want to thank the community for this warm welcome and celebrate our journey to Uruguay with our longtime, trusted partners at Alsea».

«We’re filled with pride to open our first Starbucks store in Uruguay, which bolsters, without a doubt, our solid growth strategy in the region», said Federico Tejado, Director of Alsea International. «It also represents our first step in the local market, where we hope to close the year operating at least 5 stores of the brand. We hope to reach 10 stores in operation by 2020 and generate more than 130 direct jobs».

Starbucks first entered Latin America in 2002 and since then, Alsea has expanded Starbucks retail operations to include Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and Chile, together operating more than 900 «Starbucks» stores in these markets. Alsea will similarly own and operate Starbucks retail stores across Uruguay. The opening in Uruguay marks Starbucks 77th global market, and 18th in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

bakenet:eu