Starbucks have arrived!!

patrickmooney

Well the wait is over, but only if you work for Microsoft. According to yesterdays Sunday Times, Starbucks have opened in the Microsoft Staff Canteen in Sandford. The piece was more of a caption, with the accompanying photo showing a staff member holding a Venti customised cup "our coffee has been brewed by starbucks".
Wonder how long it will take to see them either open an outright store, or team up with the likes to Tesco/Easons to have instore coffee shops!

RobertFoster

MS and Starbucks together?! Why, they could take over the world...

egan007

i read a piece in the paper that they plan to open 75 outlets in ireland. starbucks.ie has been registered that last 18 months

kmick

Was in MS and had a cup of their Starbucks coffee. I also bought a coffee a few weeks ago in a small store to the right of the entrance to the Illiac centre on henry street and it was much nicer. I hope it is not indicative of Starbucks general coffee standards.

munkeehaven

the takeover has begun. sheesh we might aswell be the 51st state , the way things are going.:(

midget lord

are you serious? starbucks opens a store in a private property and we are suddenly the 51st state?

Incidentally, white choc mocha with whipped cream is the stuff of gods.

munkeehaven

well its just the start, starbucks are known world-wide for their parasitic like takeovers, in america they buy out smaller coffee shops to open new cafes,etc..in some american cities , there is at least 3 starbucks only a few metres away from each other!

midget lord

i can assure you that that is not the case. sure they are pretty frequent, but its all in the name of good quality coffee. also, most of their stores have a wireless broadband, so we can surf on our laptops while drinking white choc mochas!

robbie1876

I read somewhere that they have 30 of the stores lined up already (property leased, stores designed etc). I think the first public one is due to open sometime around September, but I don't know where.

I've never had a Starbucks coffee, but I'm not expecting great things to be honest! Having said that, the white choca moca sounds right up my street!

midget lord

at the start of the year they said they were going to open circa 30 stores between north and south. There was a thread on it on these boards, maybe some mod could pull it up?

munkeehaven

coffee is coffee is coffee tbh, if you like white choca mochas, try gloria jeans.and i think they do fair trade coffee aswell..which cant be credited to starbucks unfortunately.

midget lord

do you drink coffee munkee?

munkeehaven

yeah i do on and off. and what i mean by what i said is that puerto rican in say. small coffee shop is the same as in starbucks. i just dont like the whole thing as , they have been involved in expliotation of coffee bean growers in africa and south america. thats why i always buy fair trade coffee when i can.

gidotcom

Bring it on!!!
Coffee shops in Dublin need a good kick up the arse!
They all close too early for starters - try get a decent coffee in Dublin past 9.00!

They're all too pokey too - at least starbucks give nice fluffy chairs to sit on - I can't wait! I'll never set foot inside cafe molka again!

midget lord

cafe mucka.

butlers chocolate cafe has the best coffee in town at the moment imho.

Sarsfield

I don't go for all this chocka mocka wocka stuff. There's only one coffee and its called Java. Anything else is for girls

I've only had coffee at a few Starbucks but they were invariably poor.

alleepally

Wonder do Starbucks sell Fairtrade coffee?

WezzyB

Was in a starbucks in Edinburgh last month and they had leaflets in there about fair trade coffee so I think they do sell it

alleepally

Originally posted by WezzyB
Was in a starbucks in Edinburgh last month and they had leaflets in there about fair trade coffee so I think they do sell it

Good to hear!

elivsvonchiaing

gidotcom wrote:

Bring it on!!!
Coffee shops in Dublin need a good kick up the arse!
They all close too early for starters - try get a decent coffee in Dublin past 9.00!
QUOTE]

Every business here needs a kick up the arse in my opinion. The trouble is there are too many protectionist laws that prevent other chains from moving in. In the case of Ikea - its some warehousing bull**** law. Ireland could use an Ikea.

Why Starbucks took so long to hit the Irish market I have no idea. I just know it probably has to do with protectionist bull****. I know Tesco's took forever to open a store (I think in Gorey).

We have moved on from wanting to prevent the English from owning anything Irish in the free-state. We are now part of Europe - the EU. Changes to the constitution (I suspect) are needed.

I do concede I'm a complete ignoramus on this subject. No flames please - just constructive informative and accurate replies.

Johnny Versace

Anyone else notice the "bagel bars" which have opened all over Dublin?

My money is on all of these being converted to starbucks.

fjon

Have just dome back from a week in the States, and I drank nothing but Starbuck's coffee. Not necessarily by choice - it was the only thing available. They had it in our work canteen, in every shopping area, even in Petrol stations and book shops.
The coffee was ok, but nothing to write home about. I tried one of those White Chocolate Mochas on the recommendation of someone in the last Starbucks thread a few months back. Also was ok, but not great.
Can't see what the fuss is about tbh. The only thing they have going for them is they offer somewhere to sit and have wifi access. Although I'm not even sure they'll offer that in their Irish stores.

Stark

elivsvonchiaing wrote:

gidotcom wrote:

Bring it on!!!
Coffee shops in Dublin need a good kick up the arse!
They all close too early for starters - try get a decent coffee in Dublin past 9.00!
QUOTE]

Every business here needs a kick up the arse in my opinion. The trouble is there are too many protectionist laws that prevent other chains from moving in. In the case of Ikea - its some warehousing bull**** law. Ireland could use an Ikea.

Why Starbucks took so long to hit the Irish market I have no idea. I just know it probably has to do with protectionist bull****. I know Tesco's took forever to open a store (I think in Gorey).

Tribes in Cork is great for late night coffee, open till 4:00 in the morning and they serve food till that time

As for the protectionist laws, in this case I feel they're justified. Starbucks are a plague. They swoop in, set up so many outlets that everyone makes a loss then when the smaller places go out of business they close some of their stores so they can make a profit again and woohoo competition gone. Like the previous poster said, go to America and you can get nothing but Starbucks. I for one like having choice in where I go for coffee.

lilo moo

i'm in two minds about starbucks. i spend a lot of the summer in los angeles and have gotten to know starbucks quite well, i can't knock it - it's good coffee. i would still prefer to have it only in the summer and not have them take over ireland! i believe that's what would happen. it would start off with one cafe but pretty soon, there would be one on every second street like it is in the states. it's a bit excessive.
if anyone ever goes to la, i recommend they try 'the coffee bean (& tea leaf)', an la based coffee shop that invented the frappuccino (starbucks thing), although it's not called that there, it's just an ice blended coffee drink thing - very yummy!

karlh

the final sign needed that this country of ours has finally turned to sh1t!

if i could roll the clock back 5 years........

Blisterman

Well most US chains that open here haven't that many outlets, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut etc. I doubt they'll take over the country.
I'm looking forward to some variety in coffee. I like those frappacino stuff

patrickmooney

Today starbucks opened in the staff canteen of Ulster Bank Dublin, they appear to be stocking their entire range including Tazo Teas and Frappacinos......WHEN WHEN WHEN will they open to the public.....I'm sure it has to be REAL soon!

WhiteWashMan

well, im a big fan of starbucks.
i think its decent coffee at a decent price.

if you are a coffee connoisseur of decent coffee, then no chain of coffee houses will ever satisfy you.

as for starbucks opening and ireland becoming the 51st state, cop on. in that case, better start closing all those stupid 'Oirish pubs' around the world, and getting those countries to be the 33rd county.
besides, im sure ireland would be about the 142nd state, since starbucks is in most of the civilised workd at this stage.
bloody tree hugging hippies. get back in your communes

dudara

Tribes in Cork is great for late night coffee, open till 4:00 in the morning and they serve food till that time

Tribes is the makiest hole in the city, the food and coffee are both terrible.

My two favourite places for coffee in Cork would be Cafe Gusto on Washington Street and the coffe place in the Market, near the Pigs Back. But neither are open on a Sunday or open late.

EnigmasWhisper

Its coffee people, lets not get carried away shall we?

OLDYELLAR

ha i heard there opening a starbucks on bleachy head
on alan partridge that is

Blub2k4

Joy Of Coffee in Temple Bar will beat Starbucks anyday, good coffee, REALLY good Italian chocolate, nice staff, and the owner actually cares where his coffee comes from.

dave13

Starbucks have been open here in DCU since september. Think its vastly overrated

iceman_2001_ie

I am just back from Paris, and obviously, the Cafes there are vastly superior to Starbucks.

Didn't stop them from trying though.
I saw a Starbucks near the Sorbonne that had all the decor of a traditional cafe, except for the big white sign.

Needless to say it was half empty, while other places were crowded.

On a similar note, a few years ago, I stepped into a MacDonalds in the same area - I thought it was hilarious that they had a library in the basement eating area. When I went to grad a book (I was an impetuous little fecker back in the day) I discovered that they were not real books, but pasted book snipes on a curved surfaces.

When in Rome, I guess....

NewFrockTuesday

Quote[Bring it on!!!
Coffee shops in Dublin need a good kick up the arse!
They all close too early for starters - try get a decent coffee in Dublin past 9.00!]

Agreed! overpriced muck most of it.

FX Meister

wonderboy wrote:

Starbucks have been open here in DCU since september. Think its vastly overrated

Isn't that one just a franchise though and not a real Starbucks

MizzKattt

Starbucks multiplication is based on pure consumeristic ideal. If one store makes a profit, then another location will be added and then another then another and so on. Once a location does not show an alloted profit margin, then another location will not be added. Supply and Demand.

DapperGent

Jesus. It almost sounds like they're running a business.

memphis

Only seeing this thread now.

I heard sometime back that there was plans to venture into Ireland with their outlets ok, though I think they are only planning on hitting the main cities, like Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Limerick, etc first.

I love Starbucks, would be nice to see em introduced here. I used live on Frappocino's when I was in the US, its basicaly just iced coffee.

MrJoeSoap

EnigmasWhisper wrote:

Its coffee people, lets not get carried away shall we?

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/StarbucksFlyer.pdf

OFDM

wonderboy wrote:

Starbucks have been open here in DCU since september. Think its vastly overrated

Yeah, their tea sucks monkey poo compared to the bog standard canteen tea....