Starbucks Korea Co., local subsidiary of global coffee giant Starbucks Corp. that begun business here in 1999, said Thursday that it achieved a sales milestone of 1 trillion won ($882 million) last year.
The coffee brand’s operating profit soared 81.2 percent on year to 85.4 billion won last year, while sales grew 29.6 percent to slightly over 1 trillion won from 773.9 billion won in 2015, according to Starbucks Korea which is operated by Emart Inc., the country’s big-box store unit of Shinsegae Group.
Starbucks is an unrivaled coffee chain leader in Korea where there is a coffee shop at every corner. Sales of local brands Twosome Place, Angel-in-us and Coffee Bean at best amount to 200 billion won.
The Seattle-based coffee giant opened its first store in front of Ewha Womans University in central Seoul in 1999. It opened its 1,000th establishment last year and operates 1,008 stores across the country as of the end of February.
By Jeon Ji-hyun
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