Starbucks exits the Forbidden City

Now only a memory.

The Seattle Times, appropriately enough, reports that Starbuck has closed its Forbidden City outlet:

“[W]e have respectfully decided to end our lease agreement,” the Seattle coffee chain said.

Wang Jinlong, president of Starbucks Greater China, said in a written statement: “We fully respect the decision of Forbidden City to transition to a new mode of concessions service to its museum visitors.”

…

The issue seemed to have dissipated until this week, when Starbucks closed the store after learning from the Forbidden City that it wants to manage all stores inside the complex itself.

The Beijing News provides some additional details:

Under the new plan, the Starbucks location would be turned into a beverage station, and Starbucks would not be the sole brand sold. The Palace Museum said that if its partnership with Starbucks continued, Starbucks coffee could be one of the beverage brands sold, but it could no longer do business in the Forbidden City as an stand-alone storefront. [Vice-director] Li Wenru said that in the present circumstances, Starbucks still hopes to be present in a stand-alone format, so the chances of further cooperation between the two sides are not great.

The Palace doesn’t just want to manage all the stores itself – it’s also looking to accelerate brand growth. According to surveys it has performed of domestic and foreign tourists, tourists want to eat imperial-style delicacies while in the palace, and 60% of visitors are looking for memorabilia that costs 200 yuan or less.

By the May holiday next year, the palace aims to fill its restructured network of stores with more than 1000 items imprinted with its trademarks – “Imperial Palace” (故宫) and “Forbidden City” (紫禁城). Can we expect an Imperial Palace Latte to be among them?