Case study: Starbucks

Case 5: Starbucks Starbucks was founded in 1971 in Seattle by Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin, and Ziv Siegl, By 1982, Starbucks had five retail stores and was selling high-quality whole bean and ground coffee products to restaurants and espresso stands in the Seattle area. In that same year, Howard Schultz joined Starbucks to manage retail sales and marketing. After convincing the firm to open a downtown Seattle coffee bar in 1984, which was successful, Schultz left Starbucks to open his own coffee bar, II Giornale, which served Starbucks coffee. Schultz acquired Starbucks in 1987, and locations were opened in Chicago and Vancouver. The company published its first mail-order catalog in 1988. In 1991, Starbucks became the first U.S.-based privately held company to offer stock options to all employees. The company went public in 1992. Today, Starbucks' coffee shops and kiosks can be found in a variety of shopping centers, office buildings, bookstores, and other outlets. Starbucks' product line includes food and beverage items such as coffee, coffee beans, and pastries, as well as accessories such as mugs and grinders. Starbucks' beans are also marketed to restaurants, airlines hotels, and directly to the public through mail order and online catalogs. Interestingly. Starbucks is capitalizing on taste changes that predate the company's founding. In the early 1960s, American adults consumed an average of three cups of coffee each day