STARBUCKS Coffee Returns "Home"
Yuksel Oktay, The Turkish Times, ISTANBUL - Starbuck Coffee Company, which celebrated its tenth anniversary as a public company, opened its first store in Istanbul on April 19, Saturday near the famous Bagdat caddesi, Istanbul. The next store is scheduled to open in Akmerkez in May. As some US companies are contemplating closing shops in Turkey, this is a welcome news to Turks and especially the large foreign residents in Turkey, including over 5,000 Americans in Istanbul.

Starbuck is headquartered in Seattle, a beautiful city in the state of Washington, which is also home to Microsoft and Boeing, where many Turkish Americans work. In an interview in NASDAQ-100 last year, Chairman Howard Schultz stated that there are more than 5,600 stores in more than 28 countries. Now Turkey, the enchanting land that includes Anatolia in Asia and Thracia in Europe, will be the 29th, unless Starbucks flag has been carried to other countries since last year.

There is a town called Esenkent, a district of Esenyurt, 20 miles west of Istanbul center and next to Bahcesehir, which received many awards for its city planning and vision for the future. Over 240,000 people live and work near these towns where additional towns are coming to life as days go by. Last year a delegation of officials from Arkansas visited the town with admiration, including the mayor of North Little Rock who is looking for a sister city. The residents of Esenkent would love to see Starbucks coffee store in one of the many excellent centers in the area...

For now, we can still enjoy the fabulous Turkish coffee or its European cousin Nescafe.