Starbucks Coffee Company and SSP, a leading operator of food and beverage brands in travel locations, announced on 22 July that they will expand Starbucks presence into Finland opening the first Starbucks store at Helsinki Airport early 2012. Last month Starbucks and SSP announced plans to open a store in Gardermoen Airport in Oslo, Norway also in early 2012. SSP will operate two Starbucks stores at Helsinki Airport. One will be located in the arrivals hall where it will be accessible to passengers and visitors from the city. The other will be located past security for passengers boarding flights. Commenting on the new openings, SSP’s CEO Andrew Lynch says: “Since we opened the first Starbucks store in Sweden, it has consistently performed above expectations. We’re delighted to now be building on this achievement with the opening of these new stores to bring the Starbucks Experience to customers in Finland and Norway.” Starbucks and SSP opened their first store in Sweden in 2010 airside at Arlanda Airport. It will also be opening the first Starbucks accessible to non-travelling customers at Gothenberg and Malmo railway stations. All the new stores will open in early 2012.
SSP entered into a strategic relationship with Starbucks in June, 2008. Since that time, the company has opened 29 stores in the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden.
