Starbucks is coming to Cape Town and Durban, according to a financial statement published by rights holder Taste Holdings.
The news comes just over a year after Starbucks entered South Africa, with its first establishment rooted in Johannesburg’s Rosebank. Three stores then followed dotted around Gauteng.
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“We plan on opening eight to ten outlets this year, including expansion to Cape Town and Durban, a format located in a corporate office and ideally a drive thru format as well,” it explains.
While a timeline for the arrival of Cape Town and Durban’s branches wasn’t specified in the statement, the company does confirm that 2017 is its target.
That will be a popular announcement for many residents of the two cities, with Capetonians often lamenting on social media the lack of the coffee company’s presence in the city.
Only thing missing in Cape Town is Starbucks tbh
— M U S E
(@StansyKay) May 25, 2017
Five whole Starbucks’ in Gauteng. Still no Starbucks in Cape Town. Not. Even. One. Fam. Yhu! pic.twitter.com/3MUgDSScL6
— Zama.
(@__zamahlubi) May 9, 2017
Also, it’s time we had a Starbucks in Cape Town. pic.twitter.com/SnzQsb5Csp
— awuvakali. (@_zenaRun) April 23, 2017
Complete meme fuel.
While Starbucks is predominantly a food-serving company, Taste Holdings also shed light on the voracious usage of free WiFi within its four stores.
“Our industry leading free WiFi continues to highlight the demand for quality connectivity and our customers are using 150GB of data every day in each store,” it reveals.
As for the location of the stores and date of the stores’ arrival, Taste Holdings’ communications manager Fareed Mohammed wasn’t prepared to give us the skinny.
“Yes, the cat is out of the bag. We have plans to open Starbucks in Cape Town and Durban this year but at this stage, we are not able to disclose the exact number of stores,” he tells Memeburn in an email.
“There are various factors that we consider when choosing locations. Starbucks provides consumers with the ultimate “third place’ – a place for human connections. As such, we require ample space to facilitate this brand promise.”
Feature image: Open Grid Scheduler/Grid Engine via Flickr (public domain)
