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Starbucks will open its first Bulgarian coffee shop at the beginning of November 2008 in Sofia, a media statement said on October 21 2008.

The chain will enter the country through one of its franchisers, Greek firm Marinopoulos Bros, and the coffee shop itself would be operated by Marinopoulos Coffee Company Bulgaria. This will be the first of many other coffee shops in Bulgaria, the statement said.

The coffee shop will be on the corner of Vassil Levski Boulevard and Gurko Street, across the garden of the Soviet Army monument. The premises used to house one of Pizza Hut's first franchises in Bulgaria, but the restaurant was closed down earlier this year. 

Marinopoulos' initial plans were to have the first Starbucks shops open in mid-2008, targeting a strong presence in Sofia, from where the chain would expand to other big Bulgarian cities, according to reports in Bulgarian media in November 2007.

Starbucks enters Bulgaria years after some of its European competitors have done the same. First in the market segment was Onda Coffee Break, an Irish-Bulgarian venture in which Greek fund Global Finance now owns the largest stake, followed last year by Costa Coffee.

October 21 2008, Source: sofiaecho.com