Brief History: The first Starbucks location opened in 1971. The name is inspired by Moby Dick's first mate. This name and the mermaid logo were inspired by the love of the sea, from Starbucks original location in Seattle Washington in the heart of Pike Place Market. Starting as a single shop special- izing in high quality coffee and brewing products the company grew to be the largest roaster in Washington with multiple locations until the early 80's. In 1981, current CEO Howard Schultz, recognized a great opportunity and began working with the founder Jerry Baldwin. After a trip to Italy to find new products, Schultz realized an opportunity to bring the caf community environment he found in Italy to the United states and the Starbuck's brand we know today began to take form. Selling espresso by the cup was the first test. Schultz left Baldwin to open his own Italian coffee house Il Giornale which found outrageous success and in 1987 when Starbucks decided to sell the original 6 locations, Schultz raised the money with investors and purchased the company and fused them with his Italian bistro locations. The company experienced rapid growth going public in 1992, and growing tenfold by 1997, with locations around the United States, Japan and Singapore. Starbucks also began expanding its brand. According to George Garza in his article The history of Starbucks the following product lines were added: Offering Starbucks coffee on United Airlines flights. Selling premium teas through Starbucks' own Tazo Tea Company. Using the Internet to offer people the option to purchase Starbucks coffee online. Distributing whole bean and ground coffee to supermarkets. Producing premium coffee ice cream with Dreyer's. Selling CDs in Starbucks retail stores. Starbucks uses minimal advertising and has grown on word of mouth and brand recognition. According to Garza by 2004 Starbucks had reached 1,344 locations. (Garza) Updated history and Current Status Today, according to the Starbucks website, they have 16,706 stores (as of Dec. 27, 2009) in 50 countries. In 2009 they made strives socially as they opened the Farmer Support Center in Ki-gali, Rwanda and became the world's largest buyer of Fair Trade CertifiedTM coffee. Their mission statement from the company profile is as follows: "Our mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time." Their core competencies can be defined as high quality coffee and products at accessible locations and affordable prices, provided a community to share in the coffee drinking experience, and variety of choices. The also value ethics and good business practices and are a leader being voted one of 2010's most ethical businesses by Ethisphere magazine for the 4th year running. ("Starbucks") Starbucks is facing its own struggles however as it saw sales start slipping before other companies did in the recent recession. According to Melissa Allison in her article Starbucks has a new growth strategy more revenue with lower costs, Starbucks has closed 900 stores and *eliminated 34,000 jobs. Starbucks new strategy is to refocus on some of the areas that decrease risk and up front investment. This includes expanding foreign stores, with aid of partnerships that share risk and costs, selling VIA instant coffee and other products in retail and convenience stores, and reinvigorating the Seattle's Best Brand coffee. A statement from CFO Troy Alstead this March paints this picture: *We clearly hit a wall and didn't do very well in the 2007/2008 time period. From here forward, when we grow Via, Seattle's Best Coffee and consumer products, there's less investment for each dollar of revenue." This new strategy has inspired somc optimistic feedback. Morningstar investment rescarch firm has increased estimate of Starbucks shares from $4 a share to $24 after the statement of revamping the brand. Morningstar analyst had this to say R.J. Hottovy: "I'm surprised it wasn't ramped up in earlier years. Product innovations and international expansion not only make the business potentially more profitable, but defend them against competition.* International prtnerships increase challenges but also make new ideas in new markets that can then be translated back to US markets. (Allison) Starbucks in a mature stage of its lifescycle. It was founded over 20 years ago and it has experienced rapid growth in the last 2 decades. However within the last few years its growch has slowed and has even had to close locations. They are now focusing efforts on previous endeavors and international expansion. Value Chain Product Development Bean and ingredient Selection Product Distribution Storefront Take-home products The above is the value chain for Starbucks. The upstream portion of the value chain shows the product development from adding teas and international influences, to the research that took place to develop the VIA instant coffee line. They also search the globe for Fair Trade suppliers of high quality beans. These products are then distributed to corporate storefronts, franchise locations, airport terminals, grocery stores and more, and finally offer ground coffee and gift cards to take home. New Value Chain Product Development International Development Bean and ingredientSelection Product Distribution Online Storefront customization Storefront Mobile Apps Take-home products The above is a new value chain with international development added upstream to allow for international markets to develop new products that better suit there cultures that could potential add value to the US market as well such as the Green Tea Latte developed in Japan's Starbucks. Added downstream is Online Storefront customization, that would allow you to make a profile online, order online, create new drinks etc. Also added is a mobile app that could locate star-bucks locations, put in drink orders etc. Analyzing a Case Study Please follow this outline as a framework for thinking through the assigned case studies in addition to the specific questions assigned for each case: 1. Situation Analysis - What is happening in the industry? 2. Problem Definition - SWOT Analysis 3. Development of Alternatives and Recommendations to Management 4. Be sure to site any referenced materials