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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, March 21, 2002

Starbucks enters Puerto Rico

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Starbucks Corp., the largest U.S. specialty-coffee retailer, is expanding into Puerto Rico through a division of Cafe Hawaii Partners.

The first store, opened through a venture with Puerto Rico Coffee Partners LLC, is expected to open in San Juan by August.

The company expects to have 10 to 15 stores there in the next 18 to 20 months, Starbucks spokeswoman Cindy Hoots said.

Starbucks is betting that consumers will buy lattes and Frappucinos even as they cut back on other spending because of slowing economies.

Starbucks said last month that it will expand into Latin America, with its first store in Mexico by the end of the year, and will consider opening stores in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.

Puerto Rico Coffee Partners is a division of Cafe Hawaii Partners, which owns and operates Starbucks' 28 stores in Hawai'i. There are 22 Starbucks stores on O'ahu, four on Maui, and two on the Big Island. Three new stores are set for this spring in the Islands: one at Lahaina Cannery Mall on Maui, one at Parker Ranch Center on the Big Island, and one in the 'Aiea Shopping Center on O'ahu.

The joint venture in Puerto Rico will be called Cafe del Caribe LLC, the company said.

"We are very excited to bring Starbucks to a market such as Puerto Rico, which has a strong coffee heritage and coffee-drinking tradition," said Dean McPhail, chief executive of Caribe.

In addition to its Starbucks operations, Cafe Hawaii owns and operates 11 Jamba Juice stores in Hawai'i and seven Jamba Juice stores in Florida.

"This is a very exciting time for our company," said Greg Meier, president of Cafe Hawaii Partners. "We are a Hawai'i-based company that is expanding internationally."

Starbucks has more than 5,000 outlets in North America, Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Middle East.

Shares of Starbucks, based in Seattle, fell 18 cents to $23.68. The shares have risen 9.5 percent in the past year.

A Bloomberg News Service report was included in this story.