KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — Starbucks Malaysia, which today opened its eighth Starbucks Reserve store, targets to open two to three of the premium concept stores annually to cater to its customers’ growing interest in coffee knowledge.
Starbucks Malaysia & Brunei managing director, Sydney Quays said the first Starbucks Reserve store in Malaysia was opened at The Gardens Mall three years ago, followed by Sunway Pyramid, SkyAvenue Genting Highlands, Publika, Desa Parkcity, Four Seasons Place Kuala Lumpur, Paradigm Mall Johor and the newly launched 5,000 square foot flagship store at Berjaya Time Square here.
“We did not anticipate such a strong reception for the new concept store, and we were surprised because a lot of people were interested to learn about coffee and the various ways of brewing.
“This is what inspired us to open more Starbucks Reserve stores. The opening of the Starbucks Reserve Berjaya Times Square amplifies our passion for coffee and our ongoing commitment to continue providing unprecedented coffee experiences and knowledge to the Malaysian community, while fostering a culture of human connection,” he told a press conference after the store opening here today.
He said the Reserve store would feature two bars, a main bar that serves core Starbucks products as well as a coffee bar offering seven brewing methods, including pour-over, Chemex, coffee press, siphon, Black Eagle espresso, Clover and nitro cold brewing.
Quays, who is also the chief executive officer of Berjaya Food Bhd, said the group would normally open about 30 Starbucks outlets a year with a capital expenditure of up to RM60 million, which would be a mixture of the normal outlets, Starbucks Reserve, “drive-thrus” and small-format stores.
Meanwhile, he was upbeat on the outlook of Berjaya Food for the 2019 financial year, driven by the anticipated better performance of its Kenny Rogers Roasters (KRR) business in Malaysia and Jollibean operations in Singapore.
“KRR has been a challenge for the past few years but we see it improving tremendously this year given our new strategy of opening up KRR Express, a small-format store. The express outlet is working for us, we will be expanding this model and it involves lesser investment,” he said.
Commenting on the upcoming sugar tax, to be imposed on April 1, Quays said it would not affect the group’s business in a big way and it has no plans to increase products price at this juncture. — Bernama
