Starbucks Coffee International, Inc. opened Tuesday a second Starbucks coffee shop in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, located on the corner of the "Vasil Levski" Blvd and the"Fritjof Nansen" Street. Photo by public_consultants.bg
Starbucks Coffee International, Inc, an affiliate of the US Coffee giant - the Starbucks Coffee Company, and Marinopoulos SEE BV, through their licensee Marinopoulos Coffee, opened Tuesday a second Starbucks coffee shop in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
Similarly to the first Starbucks shop, the second one is also located in a key downtown spot - on the corner of "Vasil Levski" Blvd and "Fritjof Nansen" Street, right in front of the National Palace of Culture.
During the official opening ceremony, Starbucks made a donation to the SOS Youth Homes in Sofia, which are part of the SOS Children Villages Bulgaria - a program providing foster care, individual long term family based care to orphan children and support to children at risk and their families.
The donation is part of a long-term partnership between Starbucks and the SOS program, which began with the opening of the first Starbucks coffee shop in Sofia (on 62,"General Gurko" Blvd) in November of 2008. During the Christmas Holiday, a percentage of all Starbucks sales was slated to support the cause.
Starbucks is going to implement different programs with 33 disadvantaged youngsters, aged 14 to 18, from the Sofia Homes, including providing training and job opportunities at the coffee shops.
In addition to their coffee beverage line, Starbucks in Sofia will also offer free seminars on coffee preparations and coffee tastings.
The Greek group Marinopoulos has already introduced the French hypermarket chain Carrefour to the Bulgarian market.
The group recently opened nine Starbucks coffeehouses in Cyprus and four in Romania through a joint venture with the global coffeehouse giant.
Starbucks successful five-year partnership with Athens-based Marinopoulos Group now spans six markets including Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Switzerland, Austria and Bulgaria.