Starbucks Coffee purchases and roasts high quality coffee beans and sells them along with espresso beverages, pastries and confections, sandwiches, and recently, wine and beer. In addition to its retail sales through its own stores, Starbucks also sells coffee beans and bottled Frappuccino drinks through specialty stores and supermarkets. The company has had tremendous success since its inception in its quest to be the most recognized brand in the world. The following table contains data on the number of stores and total revenue by year, depicting the life cycle of the brand over time. The information regarding the number of units in operation over Starbucks Coffees life cycle was taken from the Timeline and annual reports provided on the companys website (www.starbucks.com).

Year	Total units	US units	Revenue (billions)
1999	2498	1996	1.7
2000	3501	2729	2.2
2001	4709	3501	2.6
2002	5886	4272	3.3
2003	7225	5239	4.1
2004	8569	6177	5.3
2005	10241	7353	6.4
2006	12440	8896	7.8
2007	15011	10684	9.4
2008	16680	11567	10.4
2009	16635	11128	9.8
2010	16858	11131	10.7
2011	17003	10787	11.7
2012	18066	12903	13.3
2013	19767	11457	14.9
2014	21366	11962	16.5
2015	23043	12521	19.2

1. Use the data from 1999 through 2015 and construct a chart. What stage of the product life cycle was Starbucks in at the end of 2015? Explain your answer.

2. Would your answer be different if you consider global vs. United States units? Number of total units vs. revenue?

3. What product category would describe the Starbucks brand? What other companies would you consider direct and indirect competitors for Starbucks, and why?

4. In 2008, Starbucks announced plans to close more than 600 of its stores, most of which were opened in 2006. What led to this decision? Was the strategy successful? Explain.

5. What future strategies would you suggest for the Starbucks brand?