In 1999, Starbucks officially entered the Chinese mainland market and kuwait whatsapp number data 5 million its first store in Beijing. Out of cautious consideration of the market, Starbucks China initially handed over its operating rights to several Chinese companies - the North China market was franchised to Beijing Mei Da Co., Ltd., the East China and Taiwan markets were operated by Taiwan Uni-President Group, and the Guangdong and Hong Kong markets were handed over to Hong Kong Maxim's Group.
From North China to East China, Starbucks, which had just entered the Chinese market, undoubtedly had a clear "testing the waters" mentality. Whether from the level of acceptance of Chinese consumers or the macroeconomic and political environment, Starbucks, which has a standard Western label, was very cautious. Starbucks entered the Chinese market 9 years later than McDonald's and 12 years later than KFC.
After the "test period" ended, Starbucks finally understood the Chinese market and firmly believed that there were huge opportunities in this vast market, so Starbucks decided to "go it alone". In 2006, Starbucks acquired 90% of the shares of Beijing Meida Co., Ltd., and the remaining 10% the following year, and all the North China markets were directly managed; in June 2011, Starbucks acquired 30% of the shares of the joint venture held by Hong Kong Maxim's Group, thereby obtaining 100% ownership of its business in Guangdong, Hainan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, and Shaanxi; in August 2017, Starbucks spent US$1.3 billion (approximately RMB 8.759 billion) in cash to acquire 50% of the shares of the joint venture held by Taiwan Uni-President Group, and completely took over about 1,300 stores in Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang.
At this point, all Starbucks stores in mainland China were directly operated by its U.S. headquarters. 18 years later, Starbucks in China seems to have entered a new stage of strategic adjustment again. Whether to operate its own stores or to open up franchises has become an important and urgent issue.
