Last year I did a post on the many different Starbucks locations Beijing has to offer and the "personalities" of many of these shops. Well, I've recently found one that takes the cake!
Waiting to enter the US Embassy, I saw the familiar Starbucks mermaid logo peaking out at me through a window. At first, I thought it was only a reflection and so I turned around only to find the Bulgarian Embassy complex, not a Starbucks. Upon entering the grounds of the US Embassy, I quickly discovered that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, smack dab in the middle of the complex is that most famous of Seattle coffee shops.
It doesn't surprise me that diplomats want to drink coffee too, and they probably don't want to stand in line like everyone else at the nearby Xiushui or Yonganli locations. Still, there was something very weird about seeing that famous logo on the grounds of the Embassy. No, its not quite as bad as seeing the circular Starbucks sign in the Forbidden City, but its truly, uniquely American. Ahh yes, I feel so happy to be on US soil, where brands reign supreme, let me celebrate with a iced, tall latte. Come on, can you imagine a beer hall in the German Embassy? A wine bar in the French Embassy? Only in America...
Anyone have an even stranger Starbucks sighting?
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Just in case you are not aware, Starbucks and other coffee vendors, have been in the outsourcing of coffee services for major corporations in North America. All corporations have coffee services for their staff, either free or sale, and they are tired of hiring staff, stocking supplies, training staff to make the right kind of beverage. So it is outsourced.
The US Embassy probably outsourced coffee services to Starbucks.
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