China’s Luckin Has What It Takes to Make It in the US
The coffee maker is a credible challenger to Starbucks on its home turf.
Taking on Starbucks on its home turf.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Luckin Coffee Inc. is right to take advantage of stumbles at rival Starbucks Corp. and enter the US market. While there are legitimate questions about future prospects there, what it offers — targeted discounts, speedy service and an overall frictionless experience — should be as attractive to younger Americans as it has been to their Chinese counterparts.
As of this month, the coffee chain has five outlets across Manhattan— it opened the first two over the summer. It was a prodigal return to a city where it listed on the Nasdaq six years ago. A year later, though, Luckin admitted it had fabricated earnings. The firm was forced to delist, fire both its chairman and CEO, and pay a $180 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission.