Starbucks: Here’s Our New Plan to Take Over Europe

Amid struggles to stimulate sales in the highest coffee-consumption market in the world, Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) announced Thursday it will open the company’s first city-center stores in the pricey Nordic countries, Sweden and Norway.

Analysts have long criticized the coffee-shop operator for its slow growth in Europe; Starbucks only has eight stores in the Nordic region so far, located primarily in train stations and at airports. But the company has proposed to increase this small presence with a series of stand-alone stores across Scandinavia. Norwegian firm, Umoe Restaurant Group, has partnered with Starbucks  in the expansion.

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The company will open the first store in the capital city of Norway, Oslo, before expanding throughout Stockholm. The number of stores the coffee-operator will open has not been disclosed.

“We are proud to increase our presence in Scandinavia as part of our growth strategy in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and further develop stores where our customers want and expect us to be,” Michelle Gass, head of Starbucks operations in Europe, said in a press release.

European expansion comes as part of the recently announced “Starbucks Renaissance Plan,” aimed at reintroducing the brand to European buyers. Sweden and Norway, with limited government debt, relatively strong economic growth, and appreciation for American goods, were logical places to begin.

Starbucks’ annual revenue from sales in the European region, which includes Africa and the Middle East, currently stands at 8.5 percent. With the upcoming expansion, according to market analysis website Seeking Alpha, European revenues should increase to 12 percent by 2016.

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