Americanexpatinfrance's Blog

After 50 cafes in Paris (first one at Opera opening over six years ago) and 3 in Lyon, Starbucks has opened its first location in Marseille as part of a strategy of development over the next five years (including goals to open on the French Riveria, in Lille and in Southwest France – perhaps Toulouse and/or Bordeaux?).

Marseille TV featured this piece about the opening in French.

You can also check out the May 2010 issue of Management magazine (in French) which features an interview with Starbucks France Director Philippe Sanchez, who lived in the US for many years.

AFP published this article in French about the Marseille event:

Starbucks s’installe à Marseille et veut doubler sa présence en France en 5 ans (AFP)

MARSEILLE — La chaîne américaine Starbucks, qui compte 54 cafés en France, a l’intention de doubler dans les cinq ans sa présence dans l’Hexagone, ont annoncé vendredi les responsables de Starbucks Coffee France en inaugurant leur premier point de vente à Marseille.

Présente en France depuis 2004, la chaîne s’est d’abord concentrée sur Paris et la région parisienne (50 cafés aujourd’hui), avec “la volonté d’établir la marque”, selon sa direction, avant d’en ouvrir trois à Lyon et ce 54e dans la cité phocéenne.

“Aujourd’hui nous sommes dans une démarche de +nationalisation+ de la marque”, avec Marseille comme première étape en Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, avant le sud-ouest et la métropole lilloise notamment, a dit Thierry Fourez, vice-président chargé du développement.

“Nous souhaitons continuer et accélérer la croissance,” a souligné Philippe Sanchez, le directeur général, parlant de “plus que doubler le marché dans les cinq ans à venir”.
En 2004, “beaucoup de gens disaient à Howard Schultz (le PDG, ndlr) +en France ça ne marchera jamais+. Six ans plus tard, l’acceptation est phénoménale”, a-t-il ajouté.

A Marseille, le “salon de café” installé dans les locaux d’un ancien café des années 40, s’inscrit dans le projet de réhabilitation de la Rue de la République, axe majeur du chantier de transformation du centre ville.
“Je suis heureux que vous soyez installés ici”, leur a dit vendredi le maire UMP Jean-Claude Gaudin, ajoutant que l’endroit contribuait “à redonner vie au quartier et relancer l’activité”.

Starbucks compte 17.000 cafés, dont 14.000 aux Etats-Unis – où le groupe a été très affecté par la crise.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. Tous droits réservés

It is no secret that there is gender inequality in many areas, including in the work world where talk of a “glass ceiling” is a reality for many women on the corporate ladder. But things may start to get better for women in France, a traditional bastion of male dominance. However, it is better not take things at face value and look at the pros and cons of policy.

In their May 6th, 2010 edition, The Economist published a piece about just this issue entitled “La vie en rose: French companies get serious about putting women in the boardroom.”. Excerpts below (with my emphasis in bold).
What do YOU think?

…MOST French bosses have little time for a new law, now going through parliament, which would compel listed companies to lift the proportion of women on their boards to 40% by 2016. Xavier Fontanet, chief executive of Essilor, an eyewear firm, has quoted Charles de Gaulle as saying, “One may not command without having obeyed.” His point is that few women have had the 30 years or so of experience climbing the corporate ladder that a good director requires.

Nonetheless, the government is determined to make France the second country with a compulsory quota for women in the boardroom. (Norway was the first.) At the start of the year women occupied just 11% of the total of around 580 board seats at France’s biggest 40 firms. Now bosses will have to find as many as 170 new female directors in six years, according to OFG Research. “We are looking for women to fill every seat vacated by a man,” says Diane Segalen, vice-chairman of CTPartners, a headhunting firm in Paris….Some recent appointments have certainly raised eyebrows…

…In March Dassault Aviation, a manufacturer of fighter planes and corporate jets, said it would nominate Nicole Dassault, the 79-year-old wife of Serge Dassault, its controlling shareholder, to its board. Mrs Dassault has little hands-on business experience. LVMH has nominated Bernadette Chirac, the 76-year-old wife of the former French president…Companies with no family controlling shareholder, to be sure, will be expected to propose more qualified candidates. But finding them is not always easy….

….Because companies must find a lot of them in a short time, some women will gather many board seats. One female director, indeed, has had seven offers since January. A perverse effect of the quota, therefore, says Mr Gomez, may be to reduce rather than increase board diversity….”

Le Point published these pictures with descriptions in French about the weather the past week.

On a previous post I had said May 12th was the day, but recently it was changed to May 19th, same place, same time:

Haagen Dazs forces us to change the date of our Paris may Business meeting to next wednesday, may 19th.
If you are in Paris, we apologize for the inconvenience.
We also inform you that the intranet has been improved substantially recently, and that you can register for free.
Cordially
Pierre-Jean CHARRA
www.Interfrench.net
pcharra@interfrench.com

AmCham Rhône-Alpes chapter is now on Twitter to keep you informed about news (economic, business, transatlantic), events and updates: AmChamRhoneAlps

Lots of events are happening in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, Toulouse, Aix-en-Provence/Marseille…you can click on this link to download the PDF file.

Le Figaro and the New York Times joined together to write a feature on Paris and New York. The French version is here and the New York Times features a Paris travel section.

Following years of planning, French phone operators will soon be making 07 numbers available, according to this article (in French) by Le Point. Starting today (May 3), Orange and Bouygues Télécom will launch the option, and SFR will follow up in July. Secondary operators who use the networks of the “big 3″ (Orange, Bouygues, SFR), such as Virgin Mobile, NRJ Mobile and Télé2 Mobile, will also be able to give out 07 numbers. Newcomer Free, who will enter the market as the 4th main operator in 2012, will also join the fold.

But 06 numbers will continue to be used, as there are over 8 million still available.

original article below:

L’expression “donne-moi ton 06″ pourrait bientôt devenir “donne-moi ton 07″. Lundi 3 mai, deux opérateurs (Orange et Bouygues) inaugurent les numéros de mobile commençant par 07, alors que SFR fera de même à partir de juillet. Les trois géants du mobile français distribueront aussi les numéros commençant par 07 aux opérateurs virtuels utilisant leurs réseaux, tels Virgin Mobile, NRJ Mobile ou encore Télé2 Mobile. Mais tous les nouveaux abonnements n’hériteront pas d’un 07, car les huit millions de 06 restants, ainsi que les 06 résiliés, continueront d’être attribués de façon aléatoire (le client n’aura pas le choix). Free, qui arrivera sur le marché en 2012, dispose, en outre, d’un lot de trois millions de 06 réservés.

Pour les usagers, aucun changement : les numéros en 07 seront exclusivement réservés aux mobiles. Rien à voir avec le monumental cafouillage lors de l’arrivée des numéros en 08 et 09 pour les box ADSL, qui avait entraîné des facturations excessives et des confusions avec les numéros surtaxés. Et le changement n’est pas aussi complexe que lors du passage à la numérotation à dix chiffres, en 1996. “La croissance du besoin en numéros mobiles est une résultante de trois paramètres : la croissance du nombre d’abonnés au service mobile, l’évolution du besoin en numéros mobiles pour des offres de communications vers les machines ou entre machines et l’augmentation du nombre de numéros mobiles par abonné”, explique l’Arcep, régulateur des télécoms en France.

Interfrench posted the following message on their LinkedIn group page:

Next Interfrench Paris Speed Meeting, Wednesday May 12th, at Haagen Dazs Champs Elysées, from 7:00 pm to 11pm (entry : 41 rue Marbeuf).
Agenda: 7 pm Admission
7:30 pm Conference of Dan Low in English
How to network successfully
(with French Translation by Patricia Sommer)
8 pm Speed Meeting
9:30pm to 11pm Free networking and dinner

DAN LOW CONFERENCE : HOW TO NETWORK SUCCESSFULLY
Dan Low, international consultant, corporate trainer and author, will reveal to you the keys to successful networking.

You will discover:
__ How to build a good impression.
__ How to get the information you need through excellent communications techniques
__ What professional networkers appreciate most.
__ One deadly error you shouldn’t commit.
__ You are an important person, no matter who you are, or what you do.

As for the last events, we expect 100 participants for this monthly Business Speed Meeting where entrepreneurs, Professionals and International francophiles can network in a casual way.
As soon as you arrive, you are placed in a group of 6 and each member introduces himself in his turn. After a few minutes we change groups and that several times to allow you to meet the mawimum number of persons.
After the speed meeting, you can network freely but the ice has been broken and you know whom to contact, and who can be useful to your projects.

Two formulas : 17€, Admission charge + one Drink
23€ : same plus second drink and dinner plateau
pay at the door, charged by Haagen Dazs
register directly on our site : http://www.interfrenc …
or contact: Pierre-Jean CHARRA
pcharra@interfrench.com
06 16 02 38 21

Do not forget to indicate which formula you prefer
for those who have not done so, we suggest that you register for free on our intranet ww.interfrench.net

Posted By Pierre-Jean Charra