The crew of the Starbucks store in 32nd Street, BGC, got an early morning surprise today as Howard Schultz, the CEO of the coffee mega-brand, entered the store for a quick visit at around 8:30 AM. With very few customers in sight, Schultz made the perfect low-key entrance in inspecting the operations of his stores here.
The visit to the different Starbucks stores around the metro was just the start, as his reported main reason for coming here was to award the Starbucks at The Grove by Rockwell as the best designed store in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Photo from our friend Nate Dy-Liacco (lucky bastard).
Our friend Nate was lucky enough to chance upon Mr. Schultz. He also might have possibly been the first local customer to have met the CEO (like we said, lucky bastard). To quote from Nate’s Facebook:
“I don’t always get to BGC at 7am – today was one of them rare Thursdays when I had to take my usual car to work, instead of my coding car – but when I do, Starbucks global chairman and CEO Howard Schultz shows up. (I was the only customer left on the ground floor of the 7th and 32nd BGC store, and was about to step out at 8:30-ish to head to the office, when his entourage arrived.) I’m still trembling as I type this. Thank you, Starbucks Philippines!”
Starbucks has become a major franchise in the Philippines ever since its first store opened in 1997 at the 6750 Building in Makati. Today, you can hardly walk down the street of any city without seeing a couple of Starbucks stores.
With stores already in the hundreds in Metro Manila alone, it’s not an exaggeration that Starbucks has become part of the everyday lives of Filipino in the city. The large and very profitable operations of Starbucks here have in no doubt contributed to Schultz’s visit to our shores.
It can be safe to say that he would be impressed at the amount of customers any Starbucks store here would get in a day. While Starbucks is a true American brand, the way we operate our stores locally have made it truly Filipino too. And love it or hate it, Starbucks will continue to be here to dish out the caffeine and sugar hits we need to get through the day.
His visit will hopefully mean even more improvements for the Starbucks stores here in the Philippines. And maybe even regular servings of our very own coffee blends in their brews.
Did you happen to be there when Howard Schultz showed up? What’s your impression of the local Starbucks stores? Let us know in the comments!
[Thumbnail image via Huffington Post]
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