Costa coffee sets sights on 2,000 shops
UK Coffee shop owner Costa today said it planned to triple the number of outlets in the chain within the next three years.
Managers at the Whitbread-owned brand are plotting to expand the group’s portfolio from 650 to 2,000 shops in the UK and overseas by 2010.
In April, the company said it planned to have 1,000 outlets, but revised the target after enjoying a “remarkable period of growth”.
Most of the planned new stores will be opened overseas, although Costa also hopes to expand its UK chain from 497 shops to 800 over the next three years.
Costa, which was formed by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in Lambeth in 1971, can now be found in 13 countries around the world including Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, China and India.
Last month the firm announced plans to open coffee shops in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, while the 500th UK store opens in Oxford next month.
It is currently second to Starbucks based on the number of UK outlets, with Café Nero in third position.
Last month Whitbread, which also runs Premier Travel Inns, posted pre-tax profits of £109.8m (€162m) for the first half of the year compared with £90.9m (€134.1m) 12 months ago. The strong performance was helped by sales at Costa, which grew by more than 21%.
