Gheorghiu, 34, had previously worked as district manager at Starbucks Romania for about five and half years. The war of the two brands started last year when Brioche Doree replaced Starbucks in the AFI Palace Cotroceni, one of the top malls in Romania. Starbucks announced at first it would leave the mall entirely only to later announce it signed a lease for a bigger space.
Prior to joining Brioche Doree, Costin Gheorghiu had worked for Starbucks for more than eight years, even before the first coffee shop opened. He was store manager in Plaza Romania at first then moved to Bucuresti Mall, where he stayed for two years, after which he became district manager, running the local operations of the US chain.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)