American coffee shop franchise Starbucks will open its first restaurant in Bucharest’s Old Town, in Manuc Inn, in Unirii Square, on Friday, December 19, the company has announced.

The new coffee shop will cover half of the inn’s ground floor, replacing a host of small shops, coffee shops and bars which currently occupy the space.

This is the first Starbucks coffee shop in Bucharest’s central area. Most of its shops are currently located in malls or in office buildings.

Starbucks has 11 units on the Romanian market, including this new one, eight of which are in Bucharest, while the other three are in Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca and Constanta.

The company plans to reach 30-35 units in the next five years and is targeting new cities, such as Iasi, Brasov, Sibiu and Craiova.

The Starbucks franchise in Romania is owned by joint venture between Bulgarian investors and the Starbucks group. Starbucks Romania had a turnover of some EUR 7 million in 2013.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Starbucks Promenada Facebook page)