The coffee chain Costa Coffee will end in Slovakia on July 1, where it entered in 2019. The development of the brand was negatively affected by the pandemic. In the Czech Republic, on the other hand, there will be more cafes, announced the Director of Costa Coffee in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Aleš Fránek
There were four cafes in Slovakia. The first opened to customers on January 18, 2019 in Bratislava. “We are sorry that we have to leave the Slovak market. It was a great experience for us, to get to know customers in Slovakia. Several months of lockdowns and cafe closures were unsustainable in the long run,” said Fránek. He added that attention is now focused on cafes in the Czech Republic.
According to Fránek, Costa Coffee, which has 32 cafes in Prague and 14 in other cities, used the closure in the Czech Republic for the reconstruction of several existing branches. “At the same time, we acquired space for new cafes. Covid-19 took a lot from us, but also gave it to us,” he said. During the pandemic, Costa Coffee focused on selling coffee by delivery. For the time being, it remains with this method of sale. According to Fránek, some customers are still more cautious and prefer to take a drink with them before sitting on the spot. According to him, quite a few people liked the opportunity to have coffee or another drink brought.
Originally a British brand, Costa Coffee belongs to the Lagardère Travel Retail group in the Czech Republic. The American Starbucks network, operated by AmRest, also operates from café chains on the Czech market. Furthermore, the Czech chain CrossCafe, which announced the closure of five Prague cafés due to a pandemic in February.
Source: Costa Coffee and CTK
