Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Heaven!!

Starbucks in Sweden!!!

22 comments:

Pink Patisserie said...

Was this photo taken at the Starbucks? Do they serve open faced sandwiches? The Starbucks must be in Stockholm? (Sorry for all the questions. :) ) I'm glad you will now be able to indulge in your Frapuccino cravings! They're a favorite of mine too.

Jessica said...

The starbucks is at Arlanda Airport, Sweden's International Airport just outside of Stockholm.
Let's say that Starbucks kind of dropped the ball on establishing a coffee shop. They decided early on, on a central level, that Sweden was an area that shouldn't be prioritised. Strange since swede's are among the greatest coffee shop goers in the world. Where a first date usually occurs in a coffee shop. I met my current boyfriend over coffee. After a while that evolved into other things.

Jessica said...

Mycket folk, Anne ;)?

Veronika said...

Oooh, I would love to have Starbucks also here in Slovakia! But the nearest one is in Wienna though :/

John K said...

You need to have Julius Meinl next, the new location here where I am in Chicago is very nice.

Pink Patisserie said...

Sweden not a priority?!! That was exceptionally poor planning on their part. Especially as the company is from Seattle and we have a HUGE Scandinavian population here. Someone was not doing their homework.

Hopefully things will change now and they'll get the picture! Although they have taken a bit of hit in this economy. Even here, fewer people are willing to spend the extra money to go to Starbucks.

Chez Lucie said...

I have never understood why people love these "fast food cafes" so much...

Bryan said...

Great! Is it outside the security area then? And open to public now? Might have to take a really wasteful trip to the airport. :)

Jessica said...

Open to public, outside restricted areas. Not that I've been.

http://www.arlanda.se/en/Information--services-to/Traveller-information/News/Swedens-first-Starbucks-at-Stockholm-Arlanda/

Anne said...

I'll post more about it tomorrow or at least soon but for now this will have to do:

NO, the Starbucks is in terminal 5, and it's behind the security control. So, you have to actually have a ticket. Or be specially invited, like I was :) It was a press event, and they'll open for real tomorrow. And actually, there was just very few of us, but a huge amount of staff to serve us ;) We were encouraged to order as much as we wanted, but a frappuccino and a caramel macchiato was all I could manage :)

Jessica said...

Oh sorry! Damn then ;). But I read somewhere that they're opening in Hammarbyhamnen too.
I have a hard time understanding the thinking behind placing it in a restricted area. Do they want swedish customers or not?

Anne said...

They probably dont care too much about that, the passengers are going to be plenty. And never heard anything about Hammarbyhamnen, next one is possibly Centralen. If there'll be more. Swedish work laws make it complicated - more on that in my next post about it. :)

Jessica said...

With the rate by which you (and I) are out to have coffee or tea, you know what I mean about establishments. THey will most certainly have customers. Be introduced to a wider circle of swedish customers? Not so much. Open field for other chains to keep the reign.

Unknown said...

No Starbucks in Norway either, and I haven't heard about any plans for establishing in the near future. :-(

natural selection said...

I’m often in New York and at least the people I know avoid Starbucks like the plague the coffee is over roasted and bitter.
The crap they sell is incredibly unhealthy. Get the nutritional information from their website, it is appalling. The Caramel Pecan Sticky Roll has more “fat” than a Big Mac..yuck or even worse, the Eggnog Latte seems like a weapon of mass destruction.

Not to mention False employee benefits. They give part time workers (20 hours per week) health insurance. However employees consistently receive 19.75. 15 minutes shy of earning those costly benefits. And lastly Fake ecologic responsibility Not reality. They are a corporation, not an NGO with people sitting in trees.
Although coffee at the airport in Stockholm is much to be desired I would prefer any other coffee entrepreneur, starbucks? I’ll pass.
Try Café Saturnus on Eriksbergsgatan in Stockholm and taste the difference.

Jessica said...

@Natural selection, I just read that the company holding the franchising rights to starbucks in sweden is a company that specialises in cafes etc., in travel sites, for ex. airports, train stations. We will most likely not see a Starbucks on a street corner in Sweden any time soon as you can, for instance, Espresso House.
I prefer small coffee shops, konditorier in swedish. Particularly those that take for granted that you want your coffee as it is, milk and sugar as you prefer. If you want latte, espresso, whatever, you ask for it specifically, otherwise you are charged for, voila!, coffee.
And it's served in small coffee cups. If none of those are open we have an outstanding Espresso House where I live.

Anne said...

To each their own. I love their coffee and I love the atmosphere. :)

Anne said...

Hooray!
I have loved every cup of coffee I have had while living in Sweden (6 months last week!), but there is something so comforting about Starbucks. Maybe its being an American and being used to having literally 5 Strbx stores within 2 blocks of my office. But I *always* know what I am going to get when I order something there. And there is something comforting about their ever-familiar decor. And it just didn't feel like Autumn without Starbucks Pumpkin Spice lattes on the menu.

How much does a cup of regular coffee run at the Arlanda Starbucks, anyway? I'd be interested to know if the prices were roughly the same!

Ulle said...

I love the compostition of the picture: Starbucks coffee and a classic Räkmacka.
Something I probably won't see again.

onemorehandbag said...

Having read your post, I had to pop out of the office for a Java Chip Frappucino. (Any excuse...)

Jessica said...

Not that I've ever gone to a café because it's healthy but that's just me. I go because it's a treat. And nice overall. You get to peoplewatch if you go alone, have a cookie, cake, muffin, coffee, tea, whatever is your preference or chat with your company. I've dated over coffee in cafes.

Mia said...

I also love a frappucino on a hot day, but I find their coffee is just too weak and expensive so I'd rather be without . You need an extra shot to make it decent which makes it totally overpriced and a rip off. The airport cafes I've been to seem to serve watered down coffee so that's always been undrinkable unfortunately. I've had to bin it on the way to the gate as has been too late to go back and ask for a proper drink:( Some of their food is yummy though.
Starbucks have probably realised that they would not be sucessful in Sweden where you are used to drinking quality coffee! But the frappucinos can be addictive and the chai tea latte ....