Starbucks and Burger King

[old higsonian]

WTF (Welcome to Finland)

Twice this weekend i walked past the new BK store and there were people outside in the rain queuing to get in. Its just another fast food burger!!

Walked past the new Starbucks in the old Academic book shop magazine section a few times and everytime there was a long long queue right round the store. Its just another coffee shop!

I am surprised that these kind of places are considered so new and exciting to be worth queueing for in Finland in 2013.

[Alex.Sm]

WTF (Welcome to Finland)

Twice this weekend i walked past the new BK store and there were people outside in the rain queuing to get in. Its just another fast food burger!!

Walked past the new Starbucks in the old Academic book shop magazine section a few times and everytime there was a long long queue right round the store. Its just another coffee shop!

I am surprised that these kind of places are considered so new and exciting to be worth queueing for in Finland in 2013.

Well in my opinion, no normal person (in his minds) will do that! Sometimes I'm thinking if those people are paid to queue in there because to be honest I will not go there and queue for a fuuucking burger even if it will be free! But hey it's funny to see how some people really don't have anything in their heads ... same when a new haiPhone or haiProduct is released and you see people queuing or sleeping on the street for weeks ... that's fuucked'up! But everybody can do what they want

[ajdias]

When I walked by BK the queue was long but only teenagers were there. Must be a status thing

[Alex.Sm]

When I walked by BK the queue was long but only teenagers were there. Must be a status thing

The so called "flock mentality" something like: "X checked-in at Burger King in the center of Helsinki and is cool "

[AldenG]

When I walked by BK the queue was long but only teenagers were there. Must be a status thing

The so called "flock mentality" something like: "X checked-in at Burger King in the center of Helsinki and is cool "

And here to me, BK in Helsinki is sooo 1980's.

Somehow I don't think it's the retro vibe that's drawing them.

[Alex.Sm]

When I walked by BK the queue was long but only teenagers were there. Must be a status thing

The so called "flock mentality" something like: "X checked-in at Burger King in the center of Helsinki and is cool "

And here to me, BK in Helsinki is sooo 1980's.

Somehow I don't think it's the retro vibe that's drawing them.

Russians queuing at Mc'!"#¤% in 1990: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d15_1375347325

[atas]

Long queue in Burger King. That I didn't expect. I wouldn't do it for Starbucks either, but in that latter case I can sympathize. By the way the I paid a little more for my coffee from Starbucks here in my country than I would in Finland.

[adam7]

I did get some burgers at BK in Kaisaniemi in the eighties. The location was totally wrong then.

The cues are due to the fact that
A) A lot of people have experienced these franchises abroad and want to renew their experience
B) Crowd mentality

Starbucks at the airport hasn't been that crowded.

The cues will wear off.

[Jukka Aho]

I am surprised that these kind of places are considered so new and exciting to be worth queueing for in Finland in 2013.

Queuing at a supposed fast food outlet for "experience only" (and for longer than 10 minutes at that) is mildly retarded. But so is queuing for days for a Harry Potter movie premiere, or the latest iThingy, or the game console of the month... I guess there are lots of people who just find enjoyment in such acts: the nominal object of desire (burgers, movie, phone, what have you) being only of secondary importance in the whole thing.

But on another note, McD's has been the only non-domestic burger franchise in Finland in the recent years. There's probably plenty of room for competition, and people are flocking over to the new guy in order to get something (anything!) else than what McD's or Hesburger have on their menus...

Starbucks then... well, the American media has been raving about that particular chain of coffeehouses for the last decade or so. Hundreds of stories must have been written about how Starbucks has enchanted hipsters and eradicated local competition, not counting all the occasional pop culture references, so now that this Devil's latest device has entered Finland, I guess people are just curious to see what's all the fuss about.

[enkeligod]

A lot of gap in the Finnish market for this Fastfood chains and coffee houses thathas not yet come into the country. I wonder what keeps them back from not entring the market yet, when you can find this brands in the developing countries of Africa and the middle east coming in their big, medium and small scales. Is Finland scared of competition with its local brands ? Atleast, Burger King has planned employing hundreds or thousand of people so will other chains do if the Windows of entry is made less cumbersome, this can help improve purchasing power, reduce unemployment,more tax for government and less dependence on KELA subsidies , possibly baby boom again for Finland .

[ajdias]

Atleast, Burger King has planned employing hundreds or thousand of people so will other chains do if the Windows of entry is made less cumbersome, this can help improve purchasing power, reduce unemployment,more tax for government and less dependence on KELA subsidies , possibly baby boom again for Finland .

And where will those jobs came from? People won't suddenly start eating more than they used to, at least I hope not. Money will mainly be transferred from other uses - supermarkets, pizzerias,Burger joints, restaurants to Burker King's pockets and it's employees. Which, ironically will be working a "MacJob"

So job creation may actually be much lower than the announced 200 new jobs, depending on how the redistribution plays out. Not to mention that these jobs aren't probably much of a job... Other than management in BK's the only real jobs they'll be contributing to are those of health professionals

But I do get the PR, and why it makes headlines that BK wants to employ 200 ppl in Finland. Jee!

[enkeligod]

Atleast, Burger King has planned employing hundreds or thousand of people so will other chains do if the Windows of entry is made less cumbersome, this can help improve purchasing power, reduce unemployment,more tax for government and less dependence on KELA subsidies , possibly baby boom again for Finland .

And where will those jobs came from? People won't suddenly start eating more than they used to, at least I hope not. Money will mainly be transferred from other uses - supermarkets, pizzerias,Burger joints, restaurants to Burker King's pockets and it's employees. Which, ironically will be working a "MacJob"

So job creation may actually be much lower than the announced 200 new jobs, depending on how the redistribution plays out. Not to mention that these jobs aren't probably much of a job... Other than management in BK's the only real jobs they'll be contributing to are those of health professionals

But I do get the PR, and why it makes headlines that BK wants to employ 200 ppl in Finland. Jee!

Service sectors are one of the leading source of economic growth and tend to employ more people though salaries are low compare to other sectors but people are searching for such job positions in Finland a lot. Redistribution is one area which this fastfood chain (B.K) spend great deal of time to plan and i will tell they are good in it.Open competition in the finnish market will enable vendors and manufacturers to deliver a greater variety of competitive products to their customers and often results in lower prices that will enable more spending from consumers and higher performance from the companies. When competition allows market forces to prevail, companies can offer the best products to a broader array of customers and consumers.

Market conditions that permit a single company to become the sole judge of price and quality set a dangerous precedent.

You do not have to be in management position before you assumed to have a real job. Waiters, cleaners,dish-washers, delivery person and chefs in this fastfood chains are all employees and also TE-Toimisto as such have updated their unemployed figures when you find a permanent position in any of the aforementioned positions. There is high demand for this kind of job positions in Finland couple with the economic crisis and immigrants with less qualification and also for Finns that dropped out of schools.

[Rosamunda]

....more tax for government...

Yeah, for sure... Starbucks seems particularly adept at avoiding paying tax in almost every country in which it operates. Let's hope the Verohallitus is merciless in tracking their profit margins in Finland.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20560359

Minister Urpilainen says
http://www.vm.fi/vm/en/04_publications_ ... 29_(4).pdf

Another challenge is when multinational companies with artificial arrangements avoid taxes for their profits in the countries with higher taxation. In Finland, I have initiated limitations on interest payment deduction as well as closer follow-up on transfer pricing, which has already during the first year increased revenues with 80 million euros.

...Jutta is watching you.

[ajdias]

Yeah, for sure... Starbucks seems particularly adept at avoiding paying tax in almost every country in which it operates. Let's hope the Verohallitus is merciless in tracking their profit margins in Finland.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20560359

Italy has just passed a "google tax" law, to stop companies like Google from re-rooting their taxes through Ireland to Bermuda, where there's no capital tax. While it's likely that the law may conflict with EU rules, I hope it gets enough momentum to make the way for laws that prevent corporations from abusing these loopholes, in a near future. Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right.

Does anyone know how much these tax arrangements of Google, Apple, Ms, Starbucks, MacDonalds and others cost Finnish taxpayers?

(Btw, that secnd link doesn't parse correctly: http://www.vm.fi/vm/en/04_publications_ ... 284%29.pdf )

[Karhunkoski]

Service sectors are one of the leading source of economic growth

Yes they are important, but it's more about selling services such as banking, technical expertise, training/education, etc. Jobs flipping burgers don't contirbute a lot to GDP.