Although the date announced for the opening of the first Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant was October this year delays occurred and it has been confirmed that now the franchise will open its first location at the end of January 2018. With an investment of close to $3 million the first of three Chuck E Cheese’s will open at Plaza Bratsi, Heredia. The franchise is a project of Costa Rican Corpora...

Kahli Gastronomy Center opened doors in Curridabat, a space to enjoy amazing dishes and learn about gastronomy. The Center is led by Costa Rican chef Sophia Rodriguez owner of Kahli Café located in San Francisco de Heredia. The new project in a 2500 square meter property with 600 square meters of construction offers a restaurant, cooking school, special events area, executive area and VIP area....

The construction sector in Costa Rica had registered through October 2017 a fall of 19.92% in relation to the same period of 2016 according to data provided by the Costa Rica Central Bank, institution that has been recording and publishing these data since 2000. This is the highest contraction registered in the past 17 years in a sector that generates over 136 thousand jobs, equivalent to 6.6% ...

Morpho Travel, a company o Britt Group opened three new stores at the Juan Santamaria International Airport offering toys, technological items and coffee machines. On December 22 the company opened doors to their toy store Whoops; tech store Plug In, which offers technology “to go” (chargers, headphones, cameras, etc.)and the Britt Espresso store which specializes in coffee machines. Accordi...

The Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE for its Spanish acronym) was recently designated as the best investment promotion agency in the world by the International Trade Centre (ITC). This is an organization created by the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. CINDE’s case is used now as reference by ITC to create a comparative evaluation tool, specialized for other promoti...

It’s already December 23 and many begin their vacation period today, many businesses in Costa Rica also remain closed this last week of the year. Banks usually have special schedules during the holiday season, it is important that you take this into consideration if you have to make payments, deposits or any other diligence in a Costa Rican bank. The Costa Rican Banking Association released the...

The Free Trade Zone of El Coyol, Alajuela Costa Rica is one of two free trade zones included in the Site Selection Top Free Zones ranking which was carried out in November this year and which picked the two best free trade zones per region, in the Latin American and Caribbean region the only two to make the list were El Coyol and the Bogota Free Trade Zone in Colombia. “Zona Franca El Coyol” ha...

Many years back it was simply known as the Irazu Hotel, later it became part of Best Western and is known as Best Western Irazu Hotel and Casino, now it has transformed once again to include the Best Western Plus. Grupo Marta Hospitality a management company of long trajectory and experience in Costa Rica, and which has managed the Best Western brand in Costa Rica since 1990 has now opened the...

The Costa Rica Chamber of Commerce provided information regarding the projections for this 2018 in a press conference this week, the growth in the commerce sector is expected to decline, going from 3.3% this year to 2.8% in 2018. The generation of new formal jobs will also suffer a decline. These conditions will definitely have an influence over the economic conditions of the country, causing ...

Florida Ice & Farm Costa Rica (FIFCO) has reached its goal of becoming the first mass consumption company in Costa Rica to be certified as carbon positive. Being carbon positive means that their actions for reduction and compensation where higher than the emissions of CO2 generated by their operations. This achievement applies to the four manufacturing plants brewery, (Pepsi, Cristal bott...

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, the world's leading luxury hospitality company, will assume management of a new collection of environmentally designed private villas and estate homes set to commence construction in February 2018. Construction completion is targeted for mid-Q4 2019. The announcement was made by US based investment firm Gencom. The exclusive enclave of 20 wholly owned properties...

CSS Corp is leading IT Services and Technology Support company that has been in Costa Rica for four years, they announced today the opening of its new delivery center in the country in the town of Tres Ríos, La Union, east of the Great Metropolitan Area, at Terra Campus, this is part of CSS Corp's strategy to diversify its footprint globally. The inauguration of the new center augments the com...

“Get the food you want, from the San Jose restaurants you love, delivered Uber speed”, this is the new business model that Uber is promoting in Costa Rica. Starting tomorrow, the new app is available for Costa Ricans to order the food they love from a selection of over 250 affiliate restaurants and have it delivered straight to their door by an Uber driver. The app allows users to browse throu...

MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme), known as Merck in the United States and Canada, inaugurated this past November 29 its Financial Services Center in Costa Rica. Through this Financial Services Center, MSD will support the company's Accounting, Planning and Financial Analysis activities in the Americas, from Canada to Chile. To date the center has generated 200 new jobs. Susana Pardo, Executive Direct...

Costa Rica will be the representative of the investment agencies of Central America and the Caribbean before the world's most important grouping of such organizations. The Coalición Costarricense de Iniciativas de Desarrollo (CINDE – 'Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency'), was elected today in Dubai as a member of the executive committee of WAIPA, an association comprised of more than 170 inve...

Black Friday started out in the United States and marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, but it has become an excellent opportunity for commerce in many different countries to attract customers and increase their sales, Costa Rica is no exception. Since early in November many retail shops announce their promotions for the “Black Month”, “Black Weekend” or “Black Week”, discounts ...

Costa Rica was chosen as the first country in Latin America to implement the new concept of Subway restaurants. This new model will be inaugurated on Wednesday, November 15, with the assistance of senior officials of the corporation at a regional level, who will expand the details of the restaurant of the future, the evolution in the business model, from the visual, technological, experience for ...

Over 33,500 new jobs were created at multinational corporations based in Costa Rica between 2014 and 2016. These jobs were created by companies that newly set up operation or expanded their existing projects in the country, said Luis Gamboa Arguedas, president of the Costa Rican Development Initiatives Coalition (CINDE). During this period, the country racked up at least 118 such foreign inv...

Tourist businesses affiliated with the Chamber of Tourism of Osa (CATUOSA) last week signed a pledge to eliminate the use of plastic containers, bags and other plastic disposable items in shops, bars and restaurants in the Osa Peninsula region in southern Costa Rica. Companies plan to substitute single-use plastics and styrofoam packages like utensils, cups, plates, straws and bags for biodegra...

The Costa Rican government and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines are joining to combat carbon dioxide emissions, said the KLM press office. KLM is the only European airline operating intercontinental flights using biofuel. Over the coming months, the business will collaborate with the Costa Rican government in a first ever such alliance for the company to research the possibilities of flying betw...

Così, the Boston, Massachusetts-based fast-casual restaurant chain known for its homemade flatbread, opens its eighth eatery in Costa Rica this Friday, November 10. The new Così locale will be inaugurated in the northern San José suburb of Guadalupe, in the canton of Goicoechea, at the Distrito Uno shopping plaza. Situated next to Distrito Uno's new Auto Mercado grocery store, Così in Guadal...

Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Trade Alexander Mora was in Miami, Florida last week for the VII International Banana Congress organized by Costa Rica's Corporación Bananera Nacional (Corbana). Participants spanned those involved in the entire value chain, from production to sale, of the fruit, and included at least 600 representatives from 40 countries. Bananas were one of the products that...

The Ochomogo, Cartago-based paint company, Celco, has developed a unique product that may help in the battle against potentially fatal mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, chikungunya, and zika. Costa Rican chemists, biochemists and pharmacists joined together to create a paint formula that repels insects and interferes with their reproduction including the Aedes Aegypti mosquito that can carry...

Ashley Furniture HomeStore invested approximately US$4million in the opening of the second store in Costa Rica, which is located in La Fosforera Commercial Center in Heredia. The new store has 1700 square meters and 25 employees. This brand opened its first store in 2010 in Santa Ana, the first point of sale in Central and South America. This store offers furniture and accessories of all k...

The Costa Rican Public Services Regulatory Authority (Aresep) this week imposed the first sanction on an Uber driver for illegally providing transportation services. The penalty amounts to ¢2,017,000 (about US$3,500). Both the car owner and the driver are responsible for what is deemed the illegal provision of transportation, because, said the regulatory agency, Uber is not just a technology...

If you've been missing a trusted shoe source, you may be happy to know Keds has opened its doors at the Curridabat (eastern San José) Multiplaza shopping center. The new store has more than 200 shoe style distributed throughout the 50 square meter outlet. "The brand has gone through a renewal. It went from the classic silhouette, which it retains but now with a triple sole, more sporty designs...

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation a global leader in patient-focused innovations for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring, today announced it is investing $100 million for its expansion plans in Costa Rica. The company, headquartered in California, United States, develops and manufactures heart valves that are utilized in the treatment of patients with heart diseases all over th...

An estimated $1 billion development located between Bagaces and Liberia in the northern Guanacaste province is underway. The mega project is expected to take 20 years to complete. The Ponderosa Country Club and Ponderosa City project will include 400 houses, as well as a kindergarten, private school, exercise areas, playgrounds, an equestrian area, and swimming pools, said project developers. ...

Doing Business 2018: Reforming to Create Jobs is a World Bank Group report which measures the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. “Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies—from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe—and over time. Doing Business measures regulation...

Cocoa cultivated in Costa Rica, especially in the northern Upala region bordering with Nicaragua, continues to be one of the best in the world. "There are four aspects that help to obtain a superior quality of chocolate. Among them, the correct genetics - and in Costa Rica there are excellent varieties - and also the post-harvest process, roasting, and conching. We have made notable progress in p...

This Halloween, clients of the upscale Multiplaza Escazú shopping center had the scare of a lifetime - but not from goblins or ghosts. Clients reported running for cover as shots rang out on the first floor of the glitzy shopping center as robbers assaulted Eurochronos around 2 p.m., according to police reports. This same store was robbed last April. It is estimated that the robbers made off...

Whether you like it or not Jacó Beach, on Costa Rica's Central Pacific coast, is destined to become much bigger. More condos, more homes, more Croc’s casinos, more restaurants, more churches, more shopping, more night clubs and more people spending money: In Jacó the next 10 years will see more development than in the past 37 years combined. There’s much unoccupied, flat, development-prime l...

Costa Rican and global business and government leaders will meet next week to discuss investment opportunities in Guanacaste, Costa Rica's northern province known for its idyllic beaches and stunning national parks, including the now active Rincon de la Viejo Volcano. Toronto, Canada-based Colliers International, a global commercial real estate services giant will be hosting the event. This is ...

As company retreats and team building activities continue to grow in popularity, one destination rises to the top as distinctive for its range of offerings and advanced tourism infrastructure: Costa Rica. The invaluable benefits of more engaged employees--to a company's bottom line, means that taking time away from the office to re-energize and refocus your employees is the new "smart investment....

The casual clothing and accessory store, American Eagle Outfitters, opened its second locale in Costa Rica this week, said the company. The new location in the fifth stage of the Multiplaza Escazú shopping center, off Highway 27 in Escazú, opened Friday, October 20. The store's first locale opened in 2016 at Lincoln Plaza in Moravia, a district in eastern San José. The Escazú opening high...

According to the company's latest sustainability report, Bridgestone reduced its carbon dioxide emissions in its operations in the region by 15 percent last year. The company aims to become carbon neutral, and is making strides towards the goal. In Costa Rica, the company's 1,042 employees produce 10,395 tires per day at the Bridgesteon plant in Belén, west of San José. The company's seco...

The third quarterly business survey, "Pulso Empresarial," published by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP), found that opening a business in Costa Rica through the formal routes is becoming more difficult for entrepreneurs. When asked, "How difficult is it to start a new business in Costa Rica?", 75 percent of those consulted said that it w...

A recent ranking of road infrastructure in Latin America lists Costa Rica as second to last, followed by Paraguay and Haiti who are tied for last place with similarly dismal rankings.   The information came to light in the most recent 2017-2018 competitiveness report issued by the World Economic Forum and focused on the quality of roads. The ranking is based partially on the percepti...

The U.S.-based franchise Buffalo Wild Wings (also known as B-Dubs) announced an interest in setting up shop in Costa Rican market in 2018, and hopes to find some local business partners to get things rolling. Over the past 35 years, B-Dubs has grown steadily and now has a presence in 50 U.S. states. The eatery and sports bar franchise also operates in Canada, Mexico, Panama, the Philippines, th...

The Norwegian Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund) and Sunshine, a subsidiary of Losko, signed a strategic alliance that will facilitate financing of solar energy projects in Costa Rica and countries in Central America. Three solar success stories stand out in Costa Rica for having benefitted from this initiative. Norfund, founded in 1997 by the Norwegian government, has as its primary go...