A controversial Starbucks coffee shop, which has operated in the entrance courtyard of Beijing's Forbidden City for seven years, has closed down. This follows a heated online campaign - which drew half a million signatures - arguing that the store's location and brand cheapened Chinese culture.
"There were several choices, one of which was to continue, but it would not carry the Starbucks name any more," said Eden Woon, Starbucks' VP for Greater China. "We decided at the end that it is not our custom worldwide to have stores that have any other name, so
therefore we decided the choice would be to leave." Media reports suggest that the only option available to Starbucks was to continue under the brand 'Forbidden City Coffee' - an ironic twist for a company whose trademark brand, logo and store layout has been copied and infringed several times across China in recent years.
The Forbidden City was built in 1420 and was home to 24 emperors until the end of imperial rule in 1911. It attracted nearly nine million
visitors last year, is China's top tourist attraction and a Unesco World Heritage site. It has recently undergone comprehensive renovations ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
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A controversial Starbucks coffee shop, which has operated in the entrance courtyard of Beijing's Forbidden City for seven years, has closed down. This follows a heated online campaign - which drew half a million signatures - arguing that the store's location and brand cheapened Chinese culture.
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