La casa de Starbucks

There are two Starbucks in Viña that I am aware of. One is a storefront in el mall, and looks and feels like any Starbucks. The other is a two-story house near a beach, and looks and feels like a Starbucks in Viña. 

La Casa de Starbucks

Three things came to mind when I first encountered La Casa De Starbucks.

1. It is nice to see a company with a distinct brand blend in. Or, at least make the effort.

It is very common to see residential houses converted into places of business (especially for language schools, daycares and preschools, and jewelry stores). In fact, in some of the more residential areas of Viña it's not always immediately obvious if a house is a residence or a small business. 

Travel agency or family home?

Early on, someone referred me to a travel agency that turned out to be in a house that...may or may not have been the travel agency? I definitely didn't have the language skills to ask anyone. Anyway, the only thing about the Starbucks House that screamed "Starbucks!" were the green umbrellas on the patio (and that was more of a gentle calling). 

I don't know how zoning laws work in Viña, but it does seem like foreign companies have a choice about whether to follow local practices or do their own thing. I don't know what motivated Starbucks to do the Chilean thing and buy a house (maybe it was cheaper to buy a house that was already engineered to withstand earthquakes? maybe they were trying to meet the expectations of tourists? maybe there wasn't any other land available?) but I appreciate that Starbucks went for local flavor - whether it was a gesture or not. 

Other foreign companies do not always
opt to go for local flavor

2. It can be interesting to see how a company adapts (or doesn't) to local custom. 

First, Starbucks posts its opens ours on the door. This is not done in Chile. 

Bizarre Notion

Second, Starbucks sells coffee beans. Since brewing coffee at home is not the way of coffee consumption in Chile (it's all instant all the time) they added pictures of various coffee makers (french press, expresso, etc) to their bean grinder to make it easier for the patrons and baristas to know what setting to use for grinding whole beans.

3. I am happy to report that the quality of their product is just as good in Chile as they are in the states, and that you can count on Starbucks for a good latte every time around the world.