The small dreamers shop of three coffee enthusiasts, which opened in 1971, has bloomed to be the worlds largest and best coffeehouse ever. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world with 7,521 self-operated and 5,647 licensed stores in 39 countries.
History: The story of Starbucks coffee history begins in Seattle in 1971, when three friends, opened a small shop with a passion for fresh coffee. Jerry Baldwin, an English teacher, Zev Siegel, a history teacher, and Gordon Bowker, a writer invested $1350 and borrowed $5,000 from a bank to open the store. They sold fresh-roasted, gourmet coffee beans and brewing and roasting accessories.
The original Starbucks location was at 2000 Western Avenue from 1971-1976. That store then moved to 1912 Pike Place. The inspiration was derived from Alfred Peet, who began importing coffees into the US in the 1950s. During their first year of operation, they purchased green coffee beans from Peet's, then began buying directly from growers.
In 1980 Zev Siegl sold out to pursue other ventures. By that time Starbucks was the largest roaster in Washington with six retail outlets. In 1982 entrepreneur Howard Schultz joined the company. After a short visit to Milan, he put forth an idea of selling coffee and espresso drinks with the beans. Schultz was firm in his idea, as he had realised the amount of money the coffee beverages could owe him. After three years he was successful in starting Il Giornale coffee bar chain
In 1987 later the original Starbucks management decided to work on Peet's Coffee & Tea and sold its Starbucks unit to Schultz and Il Giornale. He renamed Il Giornale with the Starbucks name and aggressively expanded Starbucks' reach across the United States and around the globe. Within two decades, 'Starbucks' has become the largest coffeehouse company in the world with 7,521 self-operated and 5,647 licensed stores in 39 countries.
Call it Starbuck !!! Every company's name has a story behind it. Most of the trademarking companies are named after the founder or the founders' spouse, or children's name but this one is an exception. The company is named in part after Starbuck, the chief mate character
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| ...Through its Starbucks Entertainment division and Hear Music brand, the company has ventured beyond refreshments into books, music, and film |
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in the book Moby-Dick, as well as a turn-of-the-century mining camp (
Starbo or
Storbo) on Mount Rainier.
Howard Shultz in his book, 'Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time', describes an interesting conversation between Gordon Bowker and his creative partner Terry Heckler. The book states that Boker proposed the name "Pequod" (the ship in the novel), to which Terry Heckler responded, "No one's going to drink a cup of Pee-quod!" Heckler suggested "Starbo." After few hours of brainstorming, the resulted company's name was Pequod's first mate, Starbuck.
Beverages and Comforts Starbucks serves drip brewed coffee, espresso- and non-espresso-based hot beverages, tea, and ice-blended drinks. It supplements these offerings with pastries, salads, and sandwiches. It also sells coffee mugs and other paraphernalia, as well as bagged coffee beans. The company gathers its maximum profit during the winter season. However, during the warmer months most of its revenue does not come from coffee, but from Frappuccino blended coffees and blended cremes that are made from a base plus syrup and ice.
Through its Starbucks Entertainment division and Hear Music brand, the company has ventured beyond refreshments into books, music, and film. A recent survey rates Starbucks envisions local outlets in the "third position" (besides home and work) to spend time. It is also noted for its non-smoking policy at almost all of its outlets. With all theses comforts it's not a surprise that Starbucks is number one, with 8,000 locations (in the US). However what was surprising to me is that the second largest chain is Caribou Coffee, with 322 locations.
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