Gloria Jeans hopes to open its first shop in Phnom Penh in September or October
Cambodia’s first worldwide coffee shop franchise could begin doling out cups of joe by September following a Cambodian firm’s purchase of the Gloria Jeans Coffees franchise rights for Cambodia, the franchise owner said.
D & D Group Vice Chairman Debasish Pattnaik said his firm’s subsidiary obtained the rights in June to Gloria Jean’s, which opened its first shop in Chicago in 1979 but now has locations in dozens of countries.
The first Cambodian Gloria Jeans shop will open in September or October in Boeng Keng Kang I commune on Mao Tse Toung Blvd, he said, adding that his company hopes to secure a location at Phnom Penh International Airport.
“I believe there are a lot of people, there are a lot of expats in Cambodia who love to drink coffee and right now the coffee available is substandard,” he said.
Chy Seila, owner of the nine Tea and Coffee Worlds in the capital, said that the coffee shop market is still developing, with many young Cambodian’s preferring soda or juice over java.
“Young people are not the coffee lovers, compared [to] Vietnam young people,” he said.
He said that Gloria Jeans will need to be aggressive to survive and compete with his brand.
Mr Pattnaik formerly worked for Royal Group, which brought the international fried chicken restaurant KFC to Cambodia last year.
He said he expects to have the same success with coffee as the fried chicken has had.
And while Gloria Jeans may be the first coffee shop franchise, it is not the first international coffee presence in Cambodia.
The cafe located at the gym and beauty salon complex known as The Place advertises the Starbucks logo, though supervises there say they only sell Starbucks coffee, but do not have franchise rights.
