Starbucks Coffee Company
In 1971 Starbucks Coffee Company was founded in Seattle, Washington by three businessmen who had a love for coffee and tea and wanted Seattle to have access to it.
The Starbucks Coffee Company grew slowly and by 1981 had 4 retail stores and a roasting plant that sold whole bean coffee in Seattle.
In 1983 the marketing manager had a vision of re-creating the magic and romance behind the Italian coffee bar and wanted to test out the concept of selling espresso by the cup.
When Starbucks Coffee opened its 6th store in downtown Seattle, the idea was a hit and within 2 months the store was serving over 700 customers a day, out selling the whole bean locations by 3 times.
In 1987, the owners of Starbucks Coffee Company decided to sell the business along with the name and it was bought by a group of local investors for $3.7 million.
In the next few years investors were told they would open 125 Starbucks coffee stores in the next five years. Starting from a base of 17 stores in 1987, the company expanded quickly to Vancouver, Portland and Chicago.
By 1991 Starbucks had moved into the mail-order catalogue business, licensed airport stores and expanded into California.
In 1992 the company went public. After the initial public offering, Starbucks continued to grow at a phenomenal pace. Within 5 years the number of Starbucks Coffee stores grew tenfold, with locations in the US, Japan and Singapore.
Starbucks initiated several successful product and brand extensions including offering coffee on United Airlines flights. They began selling premium teas through its Tazo Tea Company.
They distributed whole bean and ground coffee to supermarkets through an agreement with Kraft and premium coffee ice cream with Dreyers. Starbucks even sold CDs in its retail stores.
Starbucks began turning its name into a household word not through advertising but through word of mouth. In fiscal 2004, Starbucks opened a record 1,344 stores worldwide.
The once a small regional roaster, Starbucks Coffee Company, now has more than 9,000 locations in 34 countries serving approximately 20 million customers a week.
Starbucks Coffee Company
