As you leave Eindhoven's unusual underground bicycle park at 18 Septemberplein, you find this equally unusual glass structure also in the shadow of the Philips factory.
As of August 2010, this glass building is still unfinished, although it looks like it could be completed fairly soon and will probably be a retail store. This striking structure marks the start of a new shopping street called Nieuwe Emmasingel. The shopping precinct is managed by Admirant.
The brown brick building immediately behind the glass structure is called 'de Admirant' and appears to be a newly restored office/factory building. According to the history page of Admirant's website, this area was part of the Philips complex of factories and offices.
The ground floor of de Admirant is occupied by Douwe Egberts; the Dutch leading coffee maker, and is operated as a Starbucks-style coffee shop under the Douwe Egberts Koffie & Kado brand.
Customers can find virtually everything connected with the making and serving of coffee and tea. To say that the selection of tea and coffee related products is vast is an understatement.
One thing that customers seemingly cannot get, however, is a cup of coffee to take away in a Starbucks-style paper cup. It has been rumored that Dutch resistance to Starbucks opening retail stores in the Netherlands was been attributed to the Starbucks business model, which relies heavily on take-away sales. The Dutch coffee industry appears to prefer customers to consume coffee on premises and thereby encourages a more sociable cafe lifestyle. It's a rumor and I have no idea whether there's any truth to it. Equally, the absence of paper cups at Douwe Egberts Koffi-Kado may be simply because the store had just opened when I visited it.
STOP PRESS - The paper cup rumor is nonsense. See latest post.
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