It's 9.30pm on a Friday night and the Marina Mall Starbucks is heaving. Every table is taken: the front, the hard-seated area, is full of Arab males and western couples; the back, which is more spacious and comfortable, is occupied by families and young women. A barrier rope queuing system is in operation to prevent the scramble for Dulce de Leche lattes from getting out of hand. At the till, an elderly woman in a niqab is holding things up. Unperturbed by the stressed Filipina barista in front of her and oblivious to the swelling crowd behind, she halts her order and turns to the chocolate selection, examining each bar and consulting her daughter before tossing a handful onto the counter and buying the lot.
At a time at which Starbucks has reached saturation point in some parts of the West - in July it registered its first loss in 16 years as a public company, last week closed 61 of 84 cafes in Australia and it will also shed 600 stores and 1,000 jobs in the United States - its presence in the Emirates is growing. With its strong economic growth, expanding population and an increasing number of tourists, the UAE is already Starbucks' fastest-growing market in the Middle East.
According to industry statistics, the UAE is currently experiencing a retail boom, meaning that the potential for all retail outlets and food chain franchises is huge. Retail space in the UAE is expected to grow to 4.25 million square metres by the end of the decade - an increase of 209 per cent from today's figures. From the first branch at Dubai airport in 2000, Starbucks has grown steadily. There are now 67 stores; Dubai has the lion's share, with 47; Abu Dhabi currently has 14. The Alshaya Group, the Kuwait-based retailer which manages Starbucks in the Middle East, plans to increase its network of stores, which comprise some 40 brands, to more than 3,000 by 2011, from a current base of 1,400. And, when the gargantuan Mall of Arabia opens in Dubailand in 2010, the world's largest Starbucks will be housed in its centre court.
Yet even apart from the development potential in the Emirates, it's not difficult to see why Starbucks is popular here. It is now a global brand virtually synonymous with mall culture, dispensing an almost limitless range of tailor-made yet standardised drinks in a clean, comfortable, air-conditioned environment. Starbucks currently has over 15,000 stores in 44 countries, and has a long-term goal to have 40,000 outlets worldwide, with 20,000 outside the United States.
In the UAE, too, there are no independent coffee shops which seem to be able to compete with Starbucks as there are in Australia and the United States. Back in 1971, when Gerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel and Gordon Bowker opened the first Starbucks in Seattle, you couldn't get a decent cup of coffee anywhere. As Joseph A Michelli, the author of The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary, points out, "people stopped by the corner coffee shop for a 50-cent cup that came with the promise of free refills? we poured our own black, murky brew into a white foam cup. To kill the taste, we doused the mixture with gobs of powdered cream and sugar." Yet as Taylor Clark argued in his book Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce & Culture, the presence of 11,000 Starbucks outlets in the US actually led to a rise in standards and a sharp increase in the number of family-owned coffee shops.
After Starbucks was sold to Howard Schultz in 1987, it actively targeted high-income urban professionals aged between 18 and 45 with the idea of an "ideal haven, a quintessential third place". While the economic downturn has led Americans to cut back on their $4-a-day coffee habits, the conditions which gave rise to its unprecedented success are visible here in the UAE. Today's young, upwardly-mobile professionals want nice cafes and palatable coffee: people such as Hussain Darwish, 25, and his friend Ahmad Nabelsi, 29, both from Lebanon who have shunned Arabic coffee houses in favour of Starbucks. At Marina Mall, Darwish, a banker, explains why: "Each and every Starbucks is more or less the same, so it feels familiar. You get the same treatment in each one and they serve a good, international series of coffees. We like the standard here." These are exactly the same reasons as those given by Starbucks enthusiasts all over the world. Nabelsi, a development manager, feels the same. "You know what you are getting so you don't have to talk about it each time" he says. "We know what we want: two mochas, a table and three chairs. And we like to smoke."
For Ahmed Alkhaili, a 19-year-old engineering student from Al Ain, a visit to Starbucks is an essential part of a relaxing night out with friends. "We drive here each week, go to Starbucks and then go to the cinema" he said. "The coffee is nice and everybody comes here." Families seem equally at home, using Starbucks to take a break from shopping and meet other family members. Mohammed al Suwieli, 45, who works in defence and is visiting from Sharjah with his wife Mariam and their three daughters, said: "We like the atmosphere. It's not just locals and not just foreigners. All citizens are here. We want to stay longer, but we don't want to block the tables - others are waiting." For Mariam, 39, "Starbucks is all about the cappuccino. It has a nice taste and it makes you feel awake. But it is also a brand. We don't want to go to any cafe, we want Starbucks." The couple's 12-year-old daughter Sheikha is also a fan. "I like it when we come here early in the morning and you can sit and read a book. There are not enough Starbucks in Sharjah so we come here."
Starbucks has been clever, too, about adapting its offerings to the local market. Its sweet, syrupy blended drinks and sugary pastries are especially popular; last year, during Ramadan, it brought out the Date Frappucino, the first localised beverage to be specially created for customers across all stores in the Middle East. Available for just one month, the drink combined date juice with coffee, milk, ice and cream and was accompanied by a pistachio date cake and an almond and date delight. Starbucks also brought out a selection of traditional Arabian coffees, including Arabian Mocha Timor - "complex and medium bodied with a clean finish, an exotic blend of Arabian Mocha Sanani and East Timor coffees offering delicious, upfront berry notes", Arabian Mocha Sanani, "a profound single origin coffee with spicy, berry notes" and the Arabian Mocha Java, "a blend of distinction which complements cranberry, chocolate or orange flavours".
The appetite for such products was on display at the Starbucks in Al Wahda Mall, where I met two young Emirati women, Shamsa and Haya. Between them they ordered two frappucinos with cream, two grande mochas, two slices of Black Forest gateaux, a large doughnut and a croissant. The pair, aged 21 and 23, spend at least two hours a day in Starbucks. Haya, a mother of three and pregnant with her fourth, says she comes to Starbucks to "escape" from home and meet friends. "Other coffee shops are not like Starbucks" she says, "one does not know what they are like." Shamsa sucks at her Frappucino through a straw before admitting, nonchalantly: "We are very bored."
For Tiffani Yoon, an Abu Dhabi-based housewife from South Korea, Starbucks Al Wahda Mall is the only place where she can find peace and quiet. "I come here to think," she says. "I have a feeling here that no-one will bother me. In other places I get guys propositioning me. I don't think the service here is particularly good, but it's still better than elsewhere." Mohamed Basheer, 30, a designer from Kerala living in Abu Dhabi, was similarly unimpressed with Starbucks' service, but said he found its presence reassuring. "I don't like the food and I don't even like the coffee. There's better tea in Mugg & Bean and lots of better places for food. But I like Starbucks because of the things associated with the name. I particularly like it when I am travelling. When I went to Paris, everything was very strange but when I saw Starbucks I felt at home. It's also a great place for meeting people, especially meeting anyone new. Whenever you suggest Starbucks people are happy. You go there for the sake of going there - it's like a pair of worn jeans."
Yet Abu Dhabi isn't short of genuine Starbucks devotees. Lisa Laws, a columnist for The National's Arts & Life section, who has two children aged four and seven, goes to Starbucks at least 22 times a month - four times more per month than the average Starbucks regular. "I love it" she said. "I love the little things, the fact that they make 'babychinos' for the kids and the wireless internet. I go because you get exactly what you want. It's like smoking - if you are a smoker you like your brand, with Starbucks it's the same thing."
For Joseph A Michelli, it is no surprise that Starbucks, perhaps the ultimate symbol of western consumerism, is thriving in the Middle East. "I have been to Starbucks in Dubai and clearly the concept works with the extremely diverse population that resides there. Creating an environment where people can relax, not feel rushed, and can come together in a safe, clean, community setting has been successful in virtually every part of the world. While an appreciation for the food and coffee is a draw for most customers, many report they go to Starbucks for the consistent environment it creates."
It is perhaps ironic that now, as some stores are closing in America, groups are protesting the loss of their "community space". A "Save our Starbucks" campaign has taken hold across the country, from towns as small as Bloomfield in New Mexico to New York City. According to The Wall Street Journal, "Customers and officials are starting to write letters, place phone calls, circulate petitions and otherwise plead with the coffee company to change its mind."
Yet although it is closing 600 stores, it is also planning to open a further 900 in different locations across the US. According to some, the company developed too fast and opened some stores in the wrong places. Still, in the three months until the end of June this year, Starbucks sales reached $2.6 billion (Dh9.5 billion). "The expansion of the company's stores was often reflexive, not strategic" Michelli said. "Stores in the US were built across the street from one another, defying all conventional wisdom. With a tightening of discretionary income, store sales began to cannibalise one another." Starbucks' new strategic plan, Michelli says, will place new coffee shops in prime areas that are currently under-served. "The 'Save Starbucks campaign' reflects the angst of Starbucks customer loyalists, but in most cases those customers won't have to go far to find another Starbucks."
@Email:rbehan@thenational.ae
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