Starbucks

Starbucks NASDAQ: SBUX (SEHK: 4337), is a large multinational chain of coffee shops, often serving pastries, popular in the US especially among students and young urban professionals. The corporate headquarters are in Seattle, Washington. more...

The company was in part named after Starbuck, a character in Moby-Dick, and its insignia is a stylized cartoon Siren.

According to the company's fact sheet, as of February 2006, Starbucks had 6,216 company-operated outlets worldwide: 5,028 of them in the United States and 1,188 in other countries and U.S. territories. In addition, the company has 4,585 joint-venture and licensed outlets, 2,633 of them in the United States and 1,952 in other countries and U.S. territories.

Company history

The first Starbucks was opened in Seattle in 1971 by three partners, teachers Jerry Baldwin (English), and Zev Siegel (History), and writer Gordon Bowker. Wanting to sell high-quality coffee beans and machines, they opened its still-operating first location in Pike Place Market. The three knew Alfred Peet personally and were inspired by him to open a high quality coffee bean retailer. During their first year of operation they purchased green beans from Peet's Coffee & Tea. Entrepreneur Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982 and, inspired by Italian espresso bars he had visited, started the Il Giornale coffee bar chain in 1985. In 1984 the original owners, led by Baldwin, took the opportunity to purchase Peet's. The original owners sold the Starbucks chain to Howard Schultz in 1987. Baldwin went on to run Peet's, where he still works. Schultz's Il Giornale outlets were rebranded as Starbucks. Starbucks opened its first locations in Vancouver, British Columbia (at Waterfront Station) and Chicago, Illinois in 1987. Its first location outside of North America was opened in Tokyo, Japan, in 1996, and now Starbucks has outlets in 30 additional countries. Starbucks entered the U.K. market in 1998 with the acquisition of the then 60-outlet Seattle Coffee Company. All of its stores were then re-branded as Starbucks.

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