Starbucks in China

Mary Ambro

Mr. Lownik

English 1001-115, Globalization Assignment

14 October 2011

Starbucks in China

Whether your drink of choice is a Venti iced coffee with nonfat milk, tall black tea lemonade with half the sweetener or anything in between, Starbucks has it. Starbucks has become the most popular coffee house in the United States since it’s opening in Seattle, Washington in 1971. Three men who were inspired by an entrepreneur, Howard Shultz, choose to sell high-quality coffee beans and equipment, leading to the beginning of what we know as Starbucks. The name of the company is taken from Moby-Dick; after Pequod was rejected by one of the co-founders, the company was named for the first mate on the Pequod, Starbuck.

During their first year of operation, Starbucks purchased green coffee beans from Peet's, then began buying directly from growers. Entrepreneur Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982 as Director of Retail Operations and Marketing, and after a trip to Milan, advised that the company should sell coffee and espresso drinks as well as beans. This is how the whole company began. Starbucks remained an American phenomena until 1996 when Starbucks opened it’s first international store in Tokyo, Japan. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that Starbucks expanded into China, and they have never thought about going back.

Schultz and many of the other higher ups of the company were very excited that their intentions of a large business were beginning to become reality. According to Schultz, through an interview with Ouchi, they were nervous when reaching out to China because China has “a difficult market that requires significant discipline and thoughtfulness.” Eventually they hope that China will have thousands of stores but it is just going to take a lot of thought and time. Currently, China only has about 500 stores compared to the almost 900 in Japan and thousands in the United States. Analysts say the next challenge for Starbucks in Japan and in China,...