McCafe coming to Japan in August

McDonalds to introduce McCafe to Japan in August. Coming to Japan -- More information follows ...

McDonald's Japan to open coffee chain in August McDonald's is set to take on Starbucks in Japan with a new chain of coffee shops brewing up bargain lattes, the fast food chain said Thursday. The Japan unit of U.S.-based McDonald's Corp. will launch 15 pilot "McCafe" stores in the Tokyo area on August 29, according to a company release. The stores, the burger chain's first foray into the coffee shop business, will offer drinks at low prices to target families, the release said. McDonald's said it will consider opening McCafes across Japan in the next fiscal year. The cafe business in Japan has been shrinking and stood at 1.052 trillion yen (US$8.61 billion) in 2006, down 5 percent from the previous year. Still, sales at specialty coffee shops like Starbucks have soared. The Seattle-based coffee chain, which launched in Japan in 1997, has almost 700 stores across the country and saw sales jump 16 percent last year to 78.9 billion yen (US$646 million).

Here's the same story from the Nikkei (reprinted in cattlenetwork). The name sounds cheesy to me, but I think it's very slightly upscale. Looking around the Internet it looks like McCafe already exists in several countries, but only has a minimal presence in America. I think it may have started in Australia. Links:

• McCafe in Ireland
• McCafe in Austrailia
• McDonald's Opens first McCafe in America (2001)
• McDonald's opens McCafe in Canada (2001)