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US/Euro Hybrid Café moving into Chicago
Viennese established coffee bean seller
US "Starbucks" seems to be losing its
growth speed in Japan. But there is an
ambitious company in Vienna, the origin
of European café culture, which opened
its first store in the US: Julius Meinl,
coffee bean merchandiser. With a hybrid
of US and European store concept, the
company plans to expand its store network
in America.
The first store was opened recently in
Chicago. The entire interior decors of
this 200m² store were brought from
Vienna via Air Cargo.
A waiter will bring coffee to the table
(Viennese style), but one pays first at
the cash register (American style). Coffee
will be served in solid porcelain (Viennese
style) in the store, but there is a paper-cup
take out coffee (American style). The
store blends casual American taste with
traditional Viennese one, and hopes to
appeal coffee lovers who are fed up with
American style coffee stores.
Julius Meinl is an old coffee roaster
established in 1862. The company's sales
network was once as wide spread as the
Habsburg Empire, and it still exports
coffee to eastern European countries and
to Balkan states. The company never established
coffee shop chains, avoiding direct competition
from its best customers: restaurateurs
and café owners.
After having launched an internet shopping
site a year and a half ago, mainly targeting
the US market, the company felt the potential
demand in the US. Its sales results have
surpassed expectations.
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