Starbucks

Executive Summary

ACC/280

September 20, 2011

Sofoklis Hiotellis

Starbucks is the leading seller and roaster of specialty coffee globally. Their goal is to become the leading brand of coffee in its targeted markets by selling the finest quality coffee and associated products and providing customers with a unique Starbucks Experience. The Starbucks mission is to encourage and cultivate the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time (Starbucks, 2011).

Three friends, Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker, created Starbucks in 1971 when they opened a small coffee shop (Starbucks, 2011). They sold gourmet coffee beans along with brewing and roasting accessories. Shortly thereafter one small shop had turned into six retail outlets, becoming the biggest roaster in Washington. However, the relationship between the partners progressively began to change, as a result Zev Siegl sold his share in 1980 (Starbucks, 2011). In 1981, Howard Schultz a plastics salesman observed the amount of Hammarplast products used by Starbucks, his manufacturer (Starbucks, 2011). In 1982 Starbucks hired Schultz as director of marketing and operations, and he gave new life to the company (Starbucks, 2011). Schultz had considered starting coffeehouse customs in the United States, similar to the customs of Italy. The original partners opposed because for them coffee was meant to be brewed and the benefit of enjoying it at home. The result was they parted ways and Schultz opened Il Giornale, the first developed coffee bar chain in the United States. In 1987, Schultz brought Starbucks and merged it with his coffee company to create the Starbucks Corporation (Starbucks, 2011). The new Starbucks Corporation had 17 stores in total with plans to expand (Starbucks, 2011). Starbucks opened outlets outside Seattle, and one in Vancouver, Canada (Starbucks, 2011). In 1992, Starbucks had 165 outlets and became an openly traded company (Starbucks, 2011). In 1996, Starbucks...