Starbucks to Open 2,700 More Stores in China Within 5 Years

SBUX stock gained nearly 1% on Wednesday

By Karl Utermohlen, InvestorPlace Writer May 16, 2018, 4:12 pm EDT May 16, 2018

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) announced plans on expanding its global footprint on Wednesday, specifically in China where coffee is growing in popularity.

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The Asian country is mostly known as a tea nation but Starbucks hopes that it can create a coffee culture in China “where the reward will be healthy, long-term profitable growth for decades to come,” according to a statement from CEO Kevin Johnson.

The Seattle coffee chain said it will be building close to 3,000 new stores in mainland China over the next few years, with this figure slated to reach 6,000 before the end of 2022. This means that the company would be adding 2,700 stores to the 3,300 it already has within the next five years.

This would amount to opening roughly 600 new Starbucks a year in China, or one every 15 hours, which would mark a considerable increase over the company’s previous goal to build around 500 a year. The idea is to expand the company’s revenue three-fold in China over this span, while also doubling its operating profit in the country between 2017 and 2022.

Another growing trend in China is drinking beverages on the go and Starbucks is hoping to cash in on this movement by rolling out a new line of pre-made cold tea and coffee products to the nation next month.

SBUX stock was up about 0.9% Wednesday.

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