Monday, October 17, 2016

Starbucks: Reinventing Coffee Culture

A small local café that began its journey in Seattle, Starbucks Corporation has since grown into a billion dollar business. Over the years, its name and logo has even become synonymous with coffee for many Americans. However, the business model was far from what it is today.

Started in 1971, the original Starbucks Corporation did not sell brewed coffee but rather coffee beans. Presently CEO and Chairman of Starbucks, Howard Schultz became a part of the original team in 1982. After spending some time in Italy to seek inspiration, he proposed the idea of serving coffee to boost the business. Unfortunately, his vision received less than enthusiastic response from his fellow business partners. Determined to reinvent café culture in America, Schultz left the company to pursue his own coffee business.


After a huge success with the launch of his business, he later acquired Starbucks from the original owners for an estimate of $4 million. In less than five years, the company went under massive growth after introducing serving beverages by the cup. Today, Starbucks operates in 23,768 locations worldwide and is considered the main representative of the coffee industry. Although Schultz’s role in the expansion of Starbucks came in at a later stage, his story has once again proved that success is largely a product of perseverance and passion.

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