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IMMEDIATELY after checking in at Shangri-La Hotel, John
Culver went to Starbucks at 6750 Ayala Avenue for his
midnight snack. Then, he returned to his suite for a few
hours’ sleep. The next day, he went back to the same
Starbucks for breakfast. One may wonder why go to the
same coffee shop twice in less than 12 hours? Well, he
had very good reason to patronize this branch. Everybody
in that store knows him, especially those who have been
with Starbucks for the past seven years.
Culver
has been to the Philippines a number of times before.
His visit last week, incidentally, coincided with the
25th anniversary of the death of former Sen. Benigno
Aquino Jr. But he was not here for the celebration of
Ninoy’s martyrdom, but on an errand (read: he was on
official business as president of Starbucks Coffee Asia
Pacific Ltd.). He must have chosen to stay at the
Shangri-La Hotel because it is near a Starbucks store.
On
Saturday, the BusinessMirror chanced upon Culver at
Starbucks-Paseo de Sta. Rosa in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna.
The branch was the ninth store he visited since his
arrival Thursday last week from Hong Kong, where he
holds office. He was definitely pleased the location of
the store and its performance in less than two years.
Starbucks Paseo de Sta. Rosa, which is run by 14
partners led by Miles Maristela as store manager, opened
on October 21, 2006, exactly 31 years after the “Thrilla
in Manila,” the heavyweight champion fight between
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
Starbucks has been serving coffee in the Philippines for
11 years now. How is it doing in the face of stiff
competition posed by other coffee shops? The
BusinessMirror posed this question over a cup of coffee
at Starbucks-Paseo de Sta. Rosa. (He and his group paid
for their coffee and I paid for my own.) To which he
responded with optimism on the company’s continued
growth. Starbucks, he said, has 140 stores now. “We are
pleased with our performance here,” he said, adding that
“we are very happy with our partnership with Rustan,”
referring to Rustan Coffee Corp. (Rustan stands for two
family names—Rustia and Tantoco.) He must be; otherwise,
Starbucks in the Philippines won’t be putting up more
branches throughout the Philippines as part of an
ongoing expansion program.. Never mind if these are
located mostly in malls in the country’s major cities
outside Metro Manila.
What is
the secret of Starbucks’s success? Culver has a ready
answer as if he had prepared himself for the interview.
People, he said. Putting importance on human resources
is apparently a global policy, which is posted
Starbucks’s web site: “We always figured that putting
people before products just made good common sense.”
Ever wonder why in bulletin boards, the memos are
addressed to “partners?” Well, the word—as it applies to
Starbucks’ employees—is not exclusive to the
Philippines. Its use, according to Culver, dates back to
the 1980s. Everybody in the global organization is a
partner. As Asia-Pacific’s top manager, Culver said, “I
worked for our partners, they don’t work for me.”
Note.
A story was told some years back when gasoline stations
began mushrooming on North Luzon Expressway and South
Luzon Expressway. Rustan Coffee was invited to put up
outlets in some of these stations but on a franchise
basis, which means the gasoline operators would own the
store. When told about this, Culver said Rustan Coffee
is Starbucks’s partner in the Philippines. He did not
even use the word franchise holder in referring to the
business relationship. The best proof that Starbucks has
only one partner in the Philippines is the receipt every
store issues to its customers, which says it is
“operated by Rustan Coffee Corp.” The relationship is
covered by an agreement that makes Rustan Coffee as
Starbucks’s exclusive operator in the Philippines. As
such, Rustan won’t subfranchise any of Starbucks’s
outlets. |
