Starbucks Israel ( he, סטארבקס) was a coffee chain in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, opening in 2001, with six locations in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

before closing in 2003.

History

Opening

''Starbucks Coffee International'', a subsidiary of Starbucks Coffee Company, partnered with '' Delek Group of Israel'' to form the Israeli subsidiary of Starbucks, under the joint venture known is ''Shalom Coffee Company''. The joint venture, formed in 2001, was owned 19.5% by Starbucks and 80.5% by Delek, with Starbucks holding the option to increase their share to 50%. Delek paid $250,000 for the franchise rights, plus owed 6% of sales to Starbucks. Plans were for September 1, 2001 to have the first location open in Tel Aviv's

Rabin Square Rabin is a Hebrew surname. It originates from the Hebrew word ''rav'' meaning Rabbi, or from the name of the specific Rabbi Abin. The most well known bearer of the name was Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel and Nobel Peace prize Laureate. ...

. Starbucks had hoped to have 20 locations open in Israel within the first year.

Closing

In 2002, within a year of Starbucks Israel opening, Delek was already looking to sell its stake. Before its closing, Starbucks had six locations in Tel Aviv, with 120 employees. Additionally they had previously planned on opening a location in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

but withdrew the plans due to fear of terror attacks. On March 31, 2003, Starbucks announced that they would be closing their stores in Israel. Starbucks closing caused many controversies over rumors that the stores were closing due to political reasons. Many rumors began circulating on the internet that they were closing as part of an Arab boycott of American businesses in Israel. Based on information put out by Starbucks, no information pointed towards caving into anti-Israel pressure. Bill O’Shea, Starbucks VP of Business Development in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, released a letter stating that Starbucks chose to close their Israel locations due to business reasons, not political.

Reemergence attempt

In September 2005 Starbucks hired ''MAN Properties Real Estate Consultants'' to explore options to return to Israel. Starbucks was looking for a managing partner to team up with in Israel for the renewed deployment strategy.Starbucks to make a comeback
- Retrieved 3 September 2014

References

{{Navboxes , title= Former locations of Starbucks , list1= {{Restaurants in Israel Starbucks Defunct restaurant chains in Israel Restaurants established in 2001 Restaurants disestablished in 2003 Coffeehouses and cafés in Israel 2003 disestablishments in Israel Israeli companies established in 2001

History

Opening

Closing

Reemergence attempt

See also

References