All-out coffee shop wars

By Steve Hawkes And Elizabeth Hopkirk, Evening Standard (London)
11 June 2004
A new coffee bar war is set to break out in the capital.

Experts predict a wave of intense competition as leading players in the £1billion market chase customers and sites crucial to their lucrative expansion plans.

The sector has moved to high alert with Coffee Republic moving out of a clutch of espresso bars in the south of England and selling them to rival Caffe Nero. The deal confirms the Italianthemed chain is the up-and-coming aggressor and chief threat to the iron grip so far enjoyed by US giant Starbucks and the Whitbreadbacked Costa Coffee. Caffe Nero was once half the size of Coffee Republic but it now owns 171 espresso bars across the UK. American boss Gerry Ford believes there is enough space to take this to 400.

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