Fazer to open champagne bar in Stockmann department store in Helsinki

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Forget the recession! The first champagne bar in Finland is to be opened in April by Fazer Restaurants on the entirely refurbished eighth floor of the Stockmann department store in downtown Helsinki.
     
The bar named as F8 Sweet will be a part of a new complex of seven restaurants, cafés, and bars, of which four are to be opened this spring. The entire restaurant complex is scheduled to be fully operational in the autumn of 2010.
     
F8 Sweet will be a special place for women, while the business idea includes pampering treats.
      ”When the planning of the champagne bar started, the retail sales figures of champagne were on the increase. Moreover, almost all leading department stores abroad house a champagne bar”, says Aila Dorsén, the Country Director at Fazer Restaurants, explaining the idea of opening such a special bar.
     
In today’s financial situation, there is perhaps little reason to clink champagne glasses, but Fazer does not want to sink into gloom and depression.
      ”In these grim times, we should get some glamour to brighten up our everyday life”, Dorsén argues.
      One could imagine that champagne is likely to attract particularly the Russian customers of the department store. In Russia people understand more about pampering themselves than Finns do.
      ”They are one part of our target group, but not our main focus”, Dorsén elaborates.
     
The champagne selection at the bar will include several brands, and the bar will also offer an assortment of special coffees, sparkling wines, and other wines.
      Will it be possible to buy beer at F8 Sweet?
      ”No, this special place for women will not sell beer, but another bar 10 metres away will also offer beer”, says Dorsén.


Links:
  Fazer Group press release 22.1.2009
  Stockmann

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