Famous coffee chain company Starbucks announced on the 29th of February a partnership to open its first store in Milan, Italy. The Licensee in Italy is said to be Percassi, a renown retail and real estate developer.

The company CEO, Howard Schultz, made a deal with Antonio Percassi to open up a new store in Milan, Italy. "We know that we are going to face a unique challenge with the opening of the first Starbucks store in Italy, the country of coffee, and we're confident that Italian people are ready to live the Starbucks experience, " said the Percassi president in a prepared statement, according to The Seattle Times.

Based on the information from The Guardian, Starbucks has already entered in Europe, but it has not been as successful there as in other markets. The company entered Britain in 1998 and it has now more than 2,000 stores worldwide, making up about 10% of stores globally. 

Schultz reportedly visited Milan for the first tie thirty three years ago and he was impressed with the place. It is tremendously an honor for him to finally able to make his mark in the city that has once inspired him. 

According to DW, with other major companies, Starbucks in Europe has come under the spotlight for its tax arrangements. In 2015, it paid as much UK corporation tax as it did in the first 14 years of its operations there. The company had come under pressure to end its complex tax structures, shifting profits out of the UK into lower tax jurisdictions. 

Starbucks Coffee Company has been committed to ethically sourcing and roasting high-quality arabica coffee since 1971. Today, with more than 23,000 stores around the globe, Starbucks is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the world. Through its unwavering commitment to excellence and our guiding principles, it brings the unique Starbucks Experience to life for every customer through every cup.

Percassi on the other hand, is a business company whose activities are focused on managing its portfolio of own trademarks. In the past, Percassi developed stores worldwide for the Benetton Group and contributed to the entry and growth in the Italian market of Inditex (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull and Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius) as well as of Swatch, Calvin Klein, Guess, Tommy Hilfiger and Levi's. Percassi operates also in the Real Estate business with the development and improvement of major real estate projects in the sales and managerial sector, always at the forefront of innovation and high quality.