Starbucks Furthers Expansion into the Nordics as It Announces First Retail Store in Helsinki's Airport with Operating Partner SSP

Starbucks Coffee Company SBUX, and SSP, the leading operator of food and beverage brands in travel locations worldwide, today announced that they will expand Starbucks presence into Finland opening the first Starbucks store at Helsinki Airport early 2012. Last month Starbucks and SSP announced plans to open a store in Gardermoen Airport in Oslo, Norway also in early 2012. With today's announcement, Starbucks will have a full presence across the Nordic markets. SSP will operate two Starbucks stores at Helsinki Airport. One will be located in the arrivals hall where it will be accessible to passengers and visitors from the city. The other will be located past security for passengers boarding flights. Commenting on the new openings, SSP's CEO Andrew Lynch said, “Since we opened the first Starbucks store in Sweden, it has consistently performed above expectations. We're delighted to now be building on this achievement with the opening of these new stores to bring the Starbucks Experience to customers in Finland and Norway.” Starbucks and SSP opened its first store in Sweden in 2010 airside at Arlanda Airport. It will also be opening the first Starbucks accessible to non-travelling customers at Gothenberg and Malmo railway stations. All the new stores will open in early 2012. “We are looking forward to meeting our new customers in Helsinki, Gothenburg and Malmo and we are delighted to further our expansion into the Nordics,” said Rich Nelsen, president of Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa. “This expansion is consistent with our growth strategy to further develop our existing retail business in the travel channel with skilled and experienced partners like SSP.” SSP entered into a strategic relationship with Starbucks in June, 2008. Since that time, the company has opened 29 stores in the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden.