Starbucks Coffee - new openings in Munich

Starbucks opened their first coffee house in Munich on 14.Nov.2004. See the long chat forum topic: Starbucks comes to Munich

The second store opened in April 2005 at Sendlinger Tor. See the related chat topic: 2nd Starbucks opens in Munich



[size=1]Photo by: Nico

Updated invasion status: (15.Apr.2006)[list=1]

Leopoldstrasse 56 - Schwabing

Sendlingerstrasse 27 - Altstadt

Rosental - Altstadt

PEP - Perlach

Residenzstrasse 4 - Altstadt

Felitzschstrasse - Schwabing

And yet anothere one - Saw a sign just at Viktualien markt - just the huge sign on the windows of the shop - no date.

Is where Rosental comes into the market.

Moltov cocktails might be a bit much, but a boycott wouldn't.

Sorry to say it, but Starbucks does personify corporate evil. For all their talk of being so wonderful and PC, they don't pay their American workers a living wage, or even guarantee them hours. Their stores are a blight on urban landscapes, nothing more than a gussied up McDonald's selling coffee and playing jazz. Local coffee houses are put out of business, sterlizing neighborhoods and robbing them of character and color.

Think about what you love about Munich, and then imagine a giant chain outlet being dropped on top of it.

I guess I missed out on the whole Starbucks thing - I think there was one in SLC when I fled the country in the early 90s (oh yes, dating myself here), and I can't imagine what would be so thirilling about drinking overpriced american coffee when I could have a segefredo or a good cafe Au lait.

hmm. don't know what they pay here, but last I lived in San Francisco, the going wage rate per hour was about $12, with profit sharing. The same people were there all the time. sure you're not thinking of UPS? they're known for the shit they pull with hours.

Oh FFS, 1 is fair enough for variety, I guess I was too naive to think they'd stop at the 2. Reminds me of my visit to NYC where there was one on virtually every block corner.

yes, I'm afraid so UA. They're likely going to spread like a bad rash. I was originally excited they were coming, but I've not even been in one yet - there's always such a gigantic line of Germans that makes it even less appetizing to go in. I didn't think it would be so popular with the locals, so only a few would open, but they are. Which means more and more will be coming...

I come from the Pacific NW (Portland) where we pride ourselves in good coffee. Portland is one of the last cities on the West Coast that mom and pop stores outnumber Starbucks. But Starbucks is a juggernaut and invades neighborhoods wether the local area wants them or not. I mention this link before but will bring it once again.
http://portlandmercury.com/2004-05-13/city.html

I am not condoning violence but Starbucks moved in right across from the local Anarchist headquarters and were shocked to see it happen to them. Even though the neighborhood assn asked them not to move in. Sadly the coffee shop across the street was inudated the next week with undercover police and FBI( it was easy to pick them out..guy wearing bermuda shorts, polo shirts, sunglasses, laptops with digital cameras facing the doorway photographing everyone that came in).

I personaly will not frequent them and will not discourage others but they are part of the evil empire. I remember being in a Spanish coffee shop where some American tourist came in and asked for Caramel cappucinos iced...the guy explained to her that they only served coffee and esspreso and she retorted with "Starbuck does"

They just set a bad precedent for the rest of us coffee afficionados.

Thank you for allowing to vent on this Monday morning

So,

Its sunday afternoon at 6pm, I am on SendlingorStr outside the starbucks, I want a cup of coffee to take away, cant find a local coffee shop, anyone want to tell me any alternatives?

If not, then I'll use Starbucks, and thats why they keep growing...

Poots

yesterday as i walking down leopoldstr., i decided to get a cup o java and enjoy the sun, so i compared SFCC and Starbucks muffin selection. both were going for EUR 2 (unbelievable!), but SFCC's were definitely 1.5x larger. I had an apple muffin and it was yummy. my medium latte macchiato was EUR 3,30. ouch!

Someone should tell the folks at SFCC thought that brownies are supposed to look moist, not the dried-out rock variety they were selling. Coffee Fellows definitely has a leg-up on them in that department. And the Coffee Fellows near HBF has a non-smoking section. I frequent them a lot.

Ditto Pootle. Starbucks is out of my way at present but I hope one drops smack in the middle of my path. One next to my house and one next to my office would be just dandy. I would, however, LOVE to frequent a local if I found one that I could get equally cheerful, efficient service in a non-smoking environment. The latter is most important to me. Even at SF coffee company with their non-smoking areas, that nasty stale smoke taste permeates the air.

@ Pootle, Isn't there still a segefredo just in the asam hof on sendlinger strasse anymore?

Maybe I will go into a Starbucks or SF cofee company or whatever someday to see what the fuss is all about.

pootle hits the nail on the head. everybody here demands service! we all complain about shitty "german style" opening hours, product choice and service quality, and then we complain when this model (american Starbucks service is king) is brought over here. adapt and survive. must add i refuse to buy overpriced coffee anywhere on economical and enviromental reasons (all those waste to go coffee cups! people get a reusable thermo cup like in the states!)

Personally I love Starbucks.

I go in there and order an Iced triple espresso. Okay, I get some weird looks, but I also get what I order, whether in Munich or Berlin or Vienna or London or New York or Ottawa.

If any of you can find me a coffee shop in Munich (and it has to be centrally located) that will make me an iced triple espresso without ice cream and without a big fuss or without making me feel like an idiot I will go and try it.

Until then, sorry Roots, Starbucks it is.

And did I mention they know how to make a proper chocolate chip cookie?

I wouldn't be surprised if 10 or more Starbucks outlets open up fairly quickly. Although they're not a franchise, they do act like one, and AFAIK, most similar franchise operations require opening a market with a minimum of 10 stores or so.

I don't really care for their New Age-ish franchise culture, but I don't mind their beverages. Really, who doesn't like warm, melted, caffeinated ice cream?

Don't see whats wrong with Starbucks. Not a huge fan of their coffee, but it's sometimes not a bad place to sit when it's raining outside. As for the corporate culture - FFS! If the wages were so bad and the people in there were treated like shit, do you think they'd still work there? Having up to 10 Starbucks potentially in Munich is not 'overrunning the city'. I'd like people to give me proper proven examples of why they're a bad company, and not some crap like 'they represent all things bad with corporations'.

oh boy. Look out folks, the invasion has started...

REMEMBER: Starbucks are like rabbits, once you have 2, soon you will have 200...

but I have to admit, I do miss being able to order a big, big coffee to go... not that Starbucks is the only place to get such a thing, nor am i a fan of Charbucks...

I'm not much of a Starbucks fan...and it's for coffee reasons, it's the Maccers of the coffee world, kinda bland, nothing noteworthy, but will do if there's nothing else. However, in saying that, I did like the odd X-Mas special Egg Nog coffee on my way to Chancery Lane in London, yuuuuuuum, very sickly sweet, but yuuuuuuuuum.

The worst thing I think I have ever seen was a Starbucks in Vienna. I mean seriously, Starbucks, you have a brass pair to try and spread your corporate cancer to a place that takes it's coffee as seriously as Vienna does.
That said, there will always be the idiots who prefer the homogenized sterile atmosphere of a Starbuck to a small family run coffeehouse. Luckily the nice people with the black bandanas don't burn the latter.

Can someone honestly tell me, with examples, of why Starbucks is a corporate cancer?

god, if youdon't like Starbucks just don't go to it
live and let live, ffs - some people like it, some people don't
it's not like their claiming the only retail space in the village or anything

Yeah, the only fair thing would have been that the Vienese should have invented the idea of Starbucks themselves and called it Mozbucks (after Mozart)!

I sense the irony that it's okay for Germany to export BMWs all over the world, but a globalised coffee-house in Vienna!! That's the last straw!

I just don't like em cause I find the coffee there boring, the other drinks over-sweetened and the whole experience of going into one reminds me far too much of McDonalds (like their silly cup size names).

Used to give in and go into one at least once a week with a couple of addicted friends and the product never rated compared in quality (to my taste) compared with any other coffee shop I could visit in my home town.

So that's where my bafflement comes from that they can be found in so many countries. Don't know why people get upset when I say I don't fancy Starbucks though. I think I'm supposed to like it, Or Else!!

Having said that, lots of German coffee I've tried to so far tastes like warmed up milk heated up in a pot that might have once had coffee traces inside it.
Maybe I'll be forced to turn to the dark side of Starbucks while I'm in Munich.

Anyone recommend any small, local places that do drop-dead fantastic coffee?? Especially centrally located? It feels like forever since I've had a really enjoyable coffee.

P.S. I know what you mean Bumpy. I once saw these people opening up a BMW car yard in a town where all the locals used to take pride in manufacturing their own cars and had many regular customers. Dirty bastards!!

Hi Marschbot . . .

Try Bar Centrale

Their coffee is great, ja the people may be a bit much, but the staff is very nice, but go for the coffee, the real Italian deal. Good sammies too.

It's the homogenisation of the world - McDonaldisation. When you are sitting inside a Starbucks, you have no idea which country in the world you are in. They all look the same. I find that terrible.

@Tim,
Brilliant, that's really close to my work - I'll give it a try this afternoon. I'm not fussed about the people anyway... it's allll about the coffee.

South Park sums up my thoughts on it exactly.
Everyone moans about it, down with globalisation, down with evil coffee conglomerates! Up with family coffee places!
Then they drink it and many actually like them.
Starbucks is a business, they make money, if they didn't make money, they would be bankrupt.
Starbucks may pay McWages - but McWages paid for my studies as well as for many others' (you can choose to be a waitress, you can also choose not to be).
Strangely enough, it tends to be those who didn't have to finance their own studies that tend to be anti-McJob, wonder why?
Choose not to go for whatever principle you like (you hate coffee, you like those amaretti, whatever), but please realise there is a market for their services and it is a big one.

If I sit in a Starbucks, it's because I have an urge to have a coffee, and it_'s the closest shop. It doesn't make me ill. Millions of people go there every year, so does that make millions of people stupid? If I go to McDonalds, it's because I feel like a burger, nothing else. I don't go in there and wonder how many little kids it took to make one little apple pie.

Starbucks is a succesful coffee shop chain. Nothing more.
McDonalds is a successful fast food chain. Nothing more.

if you do a simple google search, you will find many voices providing many examples of why / why not.

of course, the whole thing depends on your personal world view / life preferences. If you enjoy "local character", then small independent coffee shops are for you (as are small, independent restaurants, grocers, flower shops, etc.).

Some enjoy this because there is a uniqueness to the experience and a sense of location (i.e. I can only go to my all time favorite coffee shop "The Bourgeois Pig" when I am in Chicago).

Others prefer to have a consistent experience regardless of where they are. Benefits are that: you know what to expect, and you get the same thing everywhere (which can be very comforting to people that travel a lot!). Starbucks is just another example of this "McDonald-ization" that you see very often (Kaufhof, Ikea, MediaMarkt, Wal-Mart, etc. etc.)

is it evil or good? that depends on your perspective. Personally, I hope that both can exist together - but Starbucks has shown that they try to completely dominate a city / region, and the list of profitable, well run local coffee shops that have closed because of Starbucks is extreemly long. Still, I am not at the point of saying that Charbucks uses unfair traid practices.

My sister and her husband are huge Starbucks addicts. They call it the crack house. I'm not a big Starbucks fan, but I'm not against it either. However, I will say that, setting a straight cuppa joe or espresso aside, the BEST coffee drink and snack of any coffee house I've ever been to are Starbucks' mocha coconut frappacino and espresso brownie. Yum! Otherwise, I'm happy to get a plain coffee or espresso elsewhere. In Santa Cruz, CA, I'll always ignore Starbucks for the infinitely superior Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company right across the street. Mmm...Steve's smooth French...mmm.

@IPJ...Bezerkley you'll have PEETs. I can't drink it anymore - hops me up to much - but its damn good straight coffee.

oh well, at least they are not facing eachother on the same street (not yet)

I hope this is not the future for Munich, but here is a graphic that shows the number and locations of Starbucks in the near-north side of Chicago. The map shows an area roughly 1/3 the size of Munich (a guess).



also, I'm sure that this graphic is missing many locations - IT DOESN'T EVEN INCLUDE CITY CENTER, where all the office buildings are - which often have Starbucks in the food courts (sometimes multiple locations in the building, even though there is one on the street, too), in the pedestrian walk ways, etc..

I read some funny statistics. There are supposedly slightly over 2600 Starbucks retail stores in the US. Just for fun, start counting tanning salons...theres over 6000 (mostly non-chain) of those fake bake bad boys.

Starbucks goes for mass concentration, it has regional but no significant national or global competition. If you're in beantown though, also try counting Dunkin Donuts. I have 3 Starbucks within 15 minutes walking distance, I have twice as many Dunkins. A couple of them near tanning salons. Coincidentally.

We can dream, can't we?

That would be the end of the world as we know it...

@Tim
I suppose the ones in the middle of the lakes must be houseboat Starbucks?

Either that or little portable Starbucks. ..

sorry JML, way off the mark.

excerpts from the Stabucks Annual Report 2004:

also:

"we are able to touch the lives of 30 million customers each week."

See. If they'd just stop touching people and concentrate on making some fine coffee then I'd understand what all the fuss is about.

Corporate because it's a corporation.
Cancer because that is how it spreads.

PS - Who here knows what a strawman argument is? Not Bumpy.

Whats wrong with being a corporation?

C'mon folks. Starbucks isn't about good coffee but good coffee drinks. There is a difference.

Mmm...mocha coconut frappacino.

well they must be doing something right as they're so popular, the other American-style coffee shops always look busy enough. so I think there is space for them in Munich. altho am not fond of their coffee myself, would rather visit a Segafredo coffee shop of which there are quite a few in Munich too.

now a good cafe selling yummy Typhoo/PG Tips and crumpets/toasty buns is missing in Munich I reckon...

and don't forget:

"the wildly popular Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino® blended crème beverage",

"the delectable Pumpkin Spice Latte"

and

"the deliciously indulgent Chantico™ drinking chocolate – introduced in January 2005."

also, did you know that Starbucks introduced:

"the Hear Music™ media bar, which allows customers to burn and print custom CDs right in the store, in about the time it takes to get a latte."

look out folks, Starbucks is moving big into the music world! (well, at least the CD distriution world.)

@good Data Chicago. Dont know the discrepancy but it was in some magazine on my flight...hopefully the tanning salons werent that much off the mark as well.

@IPJ...i think that should be shortened to MochaNut Frap. They also just came out with a mint chocolate chip for summer. Dunkin has a blueberry one, which sounds iffy but seems to be selling. I can't believe the brownie frap sells so well. I just don't like "pieces" in my drink. I dont drink them often but I like to look at the selections.

The coffee in DD ain't bad but those donuts hurt my teeth. Did you try the new Sugar Rush ones? I saw them in Berlin - how can you get more sugar into a DD donut? *puzzled*

what I would really like to see is this

@Katrina...No I never tried the 'sugar rush' donuts. Dont know how or why you would want extra sugar...equally puzzled. I stick to the munchkins...donut holes... They come in plain, powdered, jelly filled, chocolate glazed and cake variety. I generally like the plain glazed. I do avoid the cake holes...yes thats a gratuitious use of the word cake hole...because those do tend to be a bit on the dry and hard side.

@mightypies-
Despite what I may or may not believe, I did not even imply that there was something wrong with being a corporation when I defined 'corporate cancer'. I stated it matter of factly. That is all.