Marché Comes to Market as Starbucks Operator Pulls Chain

Mixed news for international franchise fans this week as one chain announced it would be setting up shop in Hungary, while another said it was delaying plans. The newcomer to Hungary is Swiss self-service and “front-cooking” restaurant chain Marché, which will be opening six outlets like the one above pictured by Singapore blogster Sparklette. The non-comer, on the other hand, is Starbucks, which Polish restaurant operator AmRest admitted will probably have to wait until next year as demand for oversized and overpriced cups of coffee-flavored milk is greater elsewhere in the region.

As its French name suggests, Marché restaurants combine the charms of the supermarket with what its owner Mövenpick calls “front cooking.” The unusual self-service concept allows diners to pick and choose individual ingredients for their meals – such as vegetables, fruits and pasta – from a decorative display. Népszabadság reported on Monday that the first two 100 square-meter restaurants could be opened by the end of May at MOL’s Mosonmagyaróvár rest stops on either side of the M1 motorway to and from Vienna. The other four restaurants, scheduled to open by late 2009, are likely to be smaller and operated under the Marché Bistro brand.

Meanwhile, rumors percolating since early 2007 that Starbucks is poised to enter the Hungarian café scene this year have been scotched by a board member of Polish restaurant operator AmRest, who told media that the long awaited grand opening in Hungary was “rather unlikely,” at least this year.

We learn from business daily Napi Gazdaság that the Central European franchisee behind junk food heavyweights like Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King is deferring the opening of the first Starbucks coffee shop in Hungary until next year to focus on building its off-the-shelf coffee shops in Poland and the Czech Republic.