English
Published: 2014-09-16 08:00:00 CEST
ICA Gruppen AB
Company Announcement
ICA Sweden and Starbucks Signs Licensing Agreement
ICA Sweden plans to open Starbucks in-store locations at Swedish ICA
stores.
ICA Sweden has signed a licensing agreement with Starbucks Coffee
Company
(Nasdaq: SBUX) to open Starbucks retail stores in the grocery store
channel in
Sweden. The cafés will be operated by ICA according to the Starbucks
licensing
concept and under the Starbucks brand.

“By adding new businesses
that complement and strengthen ICA’s stores and
marketplaces, we can generate
growth in our core business, grocery retail. The
café sector is growing and
this is part of our plan to strengthen our customer
offering over time,” says
Per Strömberg, CEO of ICA Gruppen.

Initially, the plan is to open three
Starbucks retail stores during 2015. These
will then be evaluated before a
decision is made on the possible establishment
of more cafés.

“We are very
pleased with our partnership with Starbucks. Just like ICA,
Starbucks has a
strong brand and a clear focus on quality and ethics and shares
the vision of
satisfied customers. This is a good example of how we can increase
customer
benefit and highlight our stores as destinations,” says Anders
Svensson, Deputy
CEO of ICA Gruppen and CEO of ICA Sweden.

About Starbucks
Since 1971,
Starbucks Corporation has been committed to ethically sourcing and
roasting the
highest quality arabica coffee in the world. Today, with stores
around the
globe, the company is the premier roaster and retailer of specialty
coffee in
the world. Through a unwavering commitment to excellence and
guiding
principles, Starbucks bring the unique Starbucks Experience to life for
every
customer through every cup. For more information, please visit Starbucks
retail
stores or online at Starbucks.com (http://www.starbucks.com/).

For more
information
ICA Gruppen press service, Telephone number: +46 10 422 52 52
ICA
Gruppen discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the
Securities
Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The
information was
submitted for publication at 08.00 CET on Tuesday, 16 September
2014.
ICA Gruppen AB (publ) is one of the Nordic region’s leading retail
companies,
with around 2,300 of its own and retailer-owned stores in Sweden,
Norway,
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Group includes the retail companies
ICA
Sweden, ICA Norway and Rimi Baltic, ICA Real Estate, which owns and
manages
properties and ICA Bank, which offers financial services to Swedish
customers.
The Group also includes the wholly owned portfolio company inkClub
and partly
owned portfolio companies Cervera and Hemtex. For more information
see
icagruppen.se (http://www.icagruppen.se)

 


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