In a previous post I stated my fascination, for good or bad, with Starbucks. What’s interesting about this coffee store is that it’s only subsidiaries in South America are found in Lima, Peru and Santiago de Chile, and I was really eager to check them out. It’s not unusual that they are located in Lima, a city with fewer coffee bars than cities like Buenos Aires or Montevideo. On top of this, in Argentina, local brands like The Coffee Store and Aroma -of the same company that holds the Mc Donald’s licence- have already taken the space that could have been occupied by Starbucks if it had arrived sooner.

We have to admit that they’ve done a large effort to replicate the environment of the original Starbucks, to the point that the cups and napkins are imported directly from the United States of America. I wonder how much does this raise the costs.

But once you step inside Starbucks-Lima, the differences with the american original version jump to the sight. To begin with, the location here is bigger and has more tables than in Bush land. The reason is simple: just like anywhere else in South America, people
buy coffee and stays a while in the store, talking. In America this is not the usual behavior; people are more likely to buy its cup of coffee (hence, the disposable cups) and walk away. With few excemptions, they don’t sit around, only on weekend mornings, where it is usual to find customers sipping coffee while reading the papers, sitting at the table.

The other difference is, of course, the people. While in America it is a type of business that reaches most of the population, here in South America, Starbucks’ targets the higher classes. The stores are located in the most expensive areas of the city and its public is definitely the local middle-high class. It just takes a look to the clothes they are wearing to jump to conclusions. It makes sense, the prices are relatively high for the local market. A small mocha costs around seven soles -about two american dollars- and the rest goes from ten to eighteen soles. This is not unusual in our lands; while in America Mc Donald’s are frequented at night by beggars, in Latin America it’s been a meeting point of young middle class people and almost a sign of status. It’s no surprise that something similar would happen with Starbucks, not quite chic in America, but the land of “the high” (class) in our continent.

I might have visited Starbucks-Lima, but went back home in a combi (a small, tiny bus). I will talk about the nightmare of public transport in another post.

You can find more posts and texts about Starbucks and Lima at Technorati.