Starbucks Opens Two New Cafes in Medellín

Starbucks is opening two new cafes in two malls in Medellín this week, one in the Centro Comercial Santa Fe and the other in Centro Comercial Oviedo. The Santa Fe location opened its doors on Thursday, December 14, with the Oviedo store launching next week on Monday, December 19.

This marks a major expansion for the coffee chain in Colombia’s second-largest city, where it only just opened its first cafe in September in the neighborhood of Milla de Oro. The two new locations will also bring Starbucks’ location total to 13 throughout the country. It launched its first coffeehouse in Colombia in Bogotá during the summer of 2014 and plans to push its national total to 50 locations by 2019, hitting an average of at least 10 launches per year.

Photo: Starbucks only opened its first cafe in Medellín in September. And now it is adding two more in a larger push to grow from 13 to 50 locations in Colombia by 2019. (Credit: Starbucks)

As it does in all its stores in the country, Starbucks pledged that the two cafes in Santa Fe and Oviedo will use only locally sourced and roasted coffee to “honor the country’s coffee heritage and the company’s 45-year history of sourcing premium arabica coffee from the region,” said the company in a statement.

It said that local furniture company Perceptual designed and manufactured all the furniture. Another Medellín-based firm, Epifita, brought in plants native to the region to try to capture the spirt of the country’s iconic Feria de las Flores festival each summer.

“We want each of our stores in Colombia to tell a story about our history as a brand, our connection to Medellín’s coffee heritage, and our deep respect for the country,” said Vanessa Rubio, store designer for Starbucks. “Between Medellin’s coffee roots, its iconic Feria de las Flores, and its deeply passionate and innovative spirit, there are so many possibilities when it comes to creating a unique customer experience through design.”

All Starbucks stores in Colombia are operated through a partnership with Alsea and Grupo Nutresa. Alsea works with Starbucks throughout the region, operating more than 640 Starbucks stores in Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile.