SHANGHAI: Starbucks opened its largest cafe in the world in Shanghai on Wednesday as the US-based beverage giant bets big on the burgeoning coffee culture of a country traditionally known for tea-drinking.
The opening of the sprawling, two-story outlet in a busy central shopping district was thronged by hundreds of customers, some waiting more than an hour in long lines stretching outside for a block in scenes reminiscent of a hyped-up new iPhone release.
The cafe spans 2,700 square meters — nearly half the area of a soccer field — and is the company’s second Starbucks Reserve Roastery, a larger type of store featuring premium coffees, teas, and coffee-infused beer along with a personalized barista service.
The first roastery outlet opened in Starbucks’ hometown of Seattle in 2014.
Starbucks already has more than 3,000 of its standard cafes in 136 Chinese cities, including more than 600 in Shanghai alone, the largest number of stores in any city in the world.
A new Starbucks opens every 15 hours in China, the company says.
Chairman Howard Schultz told Bloomberg News on Tuesday ahead of the store’s opening that China was on course to become the company’s largest market in less than a decade.
“It’s obvious to us that the holding power of China for Starbucks is going to be much more significant than the holding power of the US,” he said.
The store has a “Willy Wonka” feel, with a giant two-story cask holding tons of freshly roasted beans that are sent out to the cafe’s various bars via tubing that snakes along the ceiling, while packaged beans wander around on conveyor belts.
Zhao Fei, a paper trader, said drink prices running up to 78 yuan (SR44.23) for some coffees would scare off many Chinese customers.
“But many people in China are really starting to appreciate expensive coffees, especially young people in big cities,” said Zhao, who nonetheless opted for a nitrogen-infused fruit tea.
“And it looks so wonderful here, many people will come just to look.”
Perk up, Shanghai: Crowds throng world’s biggest Starbucks
Perk up, Shanghai: Crowds throng world’s biggest Starbucks
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
