Friday, May 6, 2005

Polish coffee house chain Coffeeheaven has stated that it will enter the Romanian market this year, with the first of its coffee houses set to open in Bucharest. Concerning the company’s structure in Romania, Coffeeheaven’s executive director, Richard Worthington, said, “We’ve decided to work with a local partner and we’ll establish a joint venture in Romania. The investments will be covered by both parts in equal shares. We don’t work in a franchise system.” Coffeeheaven also said that they would not open stores in shopping malls, but rather in the city centre or in main pedestrian streets.

Coffeeheaven, based in Warsaw, and opening its first store in 2000, is one of the largest coffee house chains in Central Europe and its surrounds. It currently has 28 outlets in Poland, 7 in Latvia (trading under the brand name Coffee Nation) and 3 in the Czech Republic.