Everyone knows that Starbucks isn’t the best coffee in the world, but they are consistant with their coffee around the world. They are also smarter business people now because of their recent failures and store closures worldwide.

Starbucks locations are being opened up in B.A by another company that is currently responsible for the success of Burger King in B.A. The company is aware of what they are doing and from as far as I can tell, Burger King is not leaving B.A anytime soon.

People drink a lot of coffee and people like options. I guarantee I don’t drink Starbucks ever day, but I do crave their coffee once in a while.

They are not going away, and they also won’t take over B.A

Let’s try not to get too emotional about it! it’s just coffee and there are some other much worse things affecting the economy in Argentina then Starbucks… umm corruption?

As some of your visitors have indicated there will be a 5th store in Palermo Viejo opening soon. I have been in Buenos Aires since 1999 and since have had children and created my own business. One of the things that I brought with me, and I still can´t shake entirely is that when I have a full schedule and I am out and about the city I just don´t have time to sit down and patiently wait to be served and then wait again to pay for the check. I do love that though when I do have the time.

Also, most coffee places here offered café, lagrima, cafe con leche, or cortadito or cappuccino and that was pretty much it. Nothing wrong with that if you happen to find your favorite coffee place and you liked it then you were set.

Before Starbucks came to town you did have some chains that popped up in the Starbucks style. I call these your modern coffee local Starbucks wanna be´s and one global competitor in the local market. There is nothing wrong with trying to copy a successful coffee chain. I really did not care one way or another for these chains. As for the local independents, there are some very good ones and there are some that just serve swill.

For now, Starbucks has tapped into a market that so far has accepted them. I do not see them competing against the local independents. This is not the USA and the local market looks nothing like the US did when Starbucks first started and it looks nothing like any US town that Starbucks goes into now, or goes out of for that matter.

The independents are going to be just fine. The ones that are going to duke it out are the local modern coffee chains against the two global giants. Believe it or not, the impression I get is that there is room for both of them. As for the local chains, it just depends on how well they are run. If they do their homework then the better ones will survive.

This coming year is going to be a very tough year for all Argentine retailers across the board. If any of them are going to drop out of the market I would expect to see that this year and no I don´t expect Starbucks to leave any time soon.

Personally, I have nothing against Starbucks, thanks to them I can drink a half-decent cup of coffee anywhere in the world, but in BA??? Give me break!

What makes you think the regular Argentine coffee is not sub-standard?

Something similar happened with pizza hut, they couldn’t compete against the enormous amount of local pizzerias and closed a lil after the pizza hut fury was vanished.

“You can almost buy a 1/2 kg bag of coffee for [$9]” And you might as well burn some newspaper and put that into your percolator. Call me spoiled, but I can’t drink cheap La Morenita. I currently am quite taken with the coffee sold in a cofee store in my neighborhood, at $32 for 1/2 kg. Better still is the Santos sold at the El Progreso patisserie in Santa Fe Av., at $44 for 1/2 kg.

Caffeine is caffeine, you may say, but life’s too short to drink awful coffee.

9 pesos (down from 11 pesos) for a cappuccino?!! You can almost buy a 1/2 kg bag of coffee for that!