Espresso House


Espresso House is the largest coffeehouse chain in the Nordic countries. Founded in Lund, Sweden in 1996 by Elisabet and Charles Asker, in March 2018 it has over 430 locations throughout Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Germany.

History

Espresso House was founded by the couple Elisabet and Charles Asker with the coffee bar Café Java in Gothenburg. The first café bearing the name Espresso House opened on street Kyrkogatan in Lund 1996. In 2005 the chain consisted of sixteen different cafes, which in March 2018 had expanded to 430 coffee shops. All bread and pastry served is baked by the central bakery Espresso House Bakery in Malmö.

Organisation

, who in connection with the purchase of Espresso House also bought Baresso Coffee in Denmark, decided during the fall of 2016 that all 45 cafés in the Danish chain would convert to Espresso House.
Something relative unique for Espresso House is that all coffee houses are corporate-owned, unlike similar chains, like Starbucks, that sometimes use franchising.
Until September 2012, Espresso House was owned by the British private equity firm Palamon Capital Partners, that also acquired the coffee shop chain Coffee Cup that started in Stockholm 1997. The two brands were united under Espresso House. In September 2012, the chain was acquired by the Norwegian private equity firm Herkules Capital that later sold it again in 2015 to the German family business JAB Holding Company.

Locations

As of October 2018 there were more than 400 stores in the following countries:
CountryNumber of stores
Denmark52
Finland44
Norway44
Sweden243
Germany9

Impact

Espresso House has been compared to Starbucks in North America in regards to its ubiquity and spread. In Norway, the chain has become a symbol of gentrification and "commercial monoculture".

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