Thursday 18 February 2010

How did Starbucks lose $200m in Australia?

From the Australian today:

..the chain, which has accumulated losses of $204m in Australia since opening its first store here in 2000..
$204 million in accumulated losses. My gawd. They used to have 64 stores, and they have been operating since 2000. Assuming all stores opened at the same time in 2000 (a silly assumption, but it makes the maths easier), each store has lost $319,000 per year, or $873 for every single day of the year.

It would be interesting to know how many coffees a Starbucks sells per day. If they sold 400 cups per day, they would have lost $2.20 per cup. I pay $3 at my local cafe, and they make a profit. They must be making a profit, as they have been in business for years, and they aren't backed by a huge conglomerate. Starbucks sells expensive coffee, but how can you sell horribly overpriced muck and still lose that much per cup?

This tells me one thing - we have an excellent coffee culture in Australia. If we can drive Starbucks out of the market, it simply proves how good the average cafe is around here.

3 comments:

kae said...

There is a Starbucks in PA hospital entry foyer, along with a whole stack of other shops.

I wonder if they're feeling the pinch?

WV: pusle
oops must be a typo. pulse!

bigtones said...

Having seen them on every second corner in HK, with very little competition I think that is more their model. As you say, too many interesting independants that can still do good coffee and food over here.

he needs food said...

If only the same would happen to Mc Heart Disease