Aida is a chain of 26 espresso bar and pastry

Pastry

Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...

 shops (Café-Konditorei

Konditorei

Konditorei is the German word for a pâtisserie and confectionery shop. A Konditorei typically offers a wide variety of pastries and is like a little café. In Germany and Austria it is a very popular custom to go to a Konditorei to have a cake and some coffee or hot chocolate mid-afternoon...

) in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. They have a devoted clientele, for whom Aida has achieved near-cult status. Business hours are from early in the morning until the early evening; the shops are open every day of the year with the exception of Christmas Day.

Ten Aida shops had been established before the Second World War, but they were all destroyed during the air raids

Strategic bombing during World War II

Strategic bombing during World War II is a term which refers to all aerial bombardment of a strategic nature between 1939 and 1945 involving any nations engaged in World War II...

 on Vienna. After the war, Felix Prousek (1918–2003) took over the management and started rebuilding and expanding. His innovative approach to coffeehouse culture

Coffeehouse

A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...

 resulted in an alternative to the sheer Gemütlichkeit

Gemütlichkeit

Gemütlichkeit is a German abstract noun that has been adopted into English. Its closest equivalent is the word "coziness"; however, rather than merely describing a place that is compact, well-heated and nicely furnished , Gemütlichkeit connotes the notion of belonging, social acceptance,...

of the traditional Viennese café

Viennese café

The Viennese Coffee House is a typical institution of Vienna that played an important part shaping Viennese culture.Since October 2011 the "Viennese Coffee House Culture" is listed as "Intangible Cultural Heritage" in the Austrian inventory of the "National Agency for the Intangible Cultural...

. Prousek was also one of the first to introduce Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

-style espresso machine

Espresso machine

An espresso machine is used to produce the traditional Italian coffee beverage called espresso.-History:The first machine for making espresso was built and patented by Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, who demonstrated a working example at the Turin General Exposition of 1884. He was granted patent no...

s in Austria.

However, for decades now, Aida has been resistant to change of any kind. This is first and foremost true of their interior design

Interior design

Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...

, very similar for all shops and reminiscent of the 1950s-1970s. Their trademark colours are pink

Pink

Pink is a mixture of red and white. Commonly used for Valentine's Day and Easter, pink is sometimes referred to as "the color of love." The use of the word for the color known today as pink was first recorded in the late 17th century....

 and dark brown. Most of the furniture is made of plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

, and there is mostly seating without upholstery

Upholstery

Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word upholstery comes from the Middle English word upholder, which referred to a tradesman who held up his goods. The term is equally applicable to domestic,...

.

Aida has also been reluctant to adapt to changing tastes and to compete with new arrivals in Vienna such as Starbucks

Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...

, for example by refusing to add flavoured coffee to their list of beverages. When the opening of a smoke-free Aida shop led to a sharp decline in regular customers the idea was quickly shelved again. In each shop there are a few tables near the counter where the pastries are on display where smoking is prohibited.

In most shops a quick coffee while standing up at the bar is possible. However, the majority of customers prefer to sit down and be served at their table. Aida is staffed exclusively by women (in pink uniforms).

Felix Prousek's son Michael, who had collaborated with his father since the 1980s, is now Aida's managing director. Their headquarters and central bakery are located in Floridsdorf

Floridsdorf

Floridsdorf is the 21st district of Vienna, Austria .Floridsdorf is located in the northern part of Vienna.The District Office and the centre of Floridsdorf are located round Am Spitz, at the junction of Prager Straße and Brünner Straße .Since 2004, Floridsdorf has had its own tower: the...

. Worldwide shipping is available.

Claims

The Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 has seen a proliferation of tourist guides describing Viennese coffeehouse culture. Some of these reports also comment on Aida, for example in the following way (which is debatable):

Coffee houses basically fall into two types, though the distinction is rather blurred nowadays. A Kaffeehaus, which is traditionally preferred by men but enjoyed by everyone, offers games such as chess and billiards and serves wine, beer, spirits and light meals. A Cafe Konditorei attracts more women and typically has a salon look with rococo mouldings and painted glass. Aida is a particularly popular chain of Konditorei, a totally pink affair where you can discuss your latest operation or the neighbour's new driveway with the old ladies at the next table. A wide variety of cakes and pastries is usually on offer. http://www.thingstodo-vienna.com/brochure/content.jsp?FIELD=Eating_Out&GROUP=10&LEVEL=1&ITEM=13

And in a similar vein:

The Aida chain is the McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

of the konditorei (coffee and cake shops) world—ubiquitous, uniform and garish. Instead, seek out more independent konditoreis, where you won't be surrounded by squabbling children. Or sink into the sanctuary of a true Viennese coffee house [...] http://www.bradmans.com/europe/vienna/

External links

• http://www.aida.at/
• http://www.thalerdata.com/p_art/aida/html/fsa-i.html