Starbucks China Case Study

Within the coffee industry Starbucks Corporations has grown from a small shop to a leading coffee distributor, proving to have financial strength and determination to continue growth. With the weakening economy the continued success of Starbucks

Starbucks began with a single store in Seattle?s Pike Place Market in 1971, it was named after the first mate in Herman Melville?s Moby Dick,

16,000 stores in 94 countries such as: Asia, Europe, and the Middle East (Sewer, 2004). Starbucks sells drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold beverages, snacks, pastries and items such as mugs and coffee beans. The first Starbucks was opened in Seattle, Washington, in 1971 by three friends: Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel and Gordon Bowker (Sewer, 2004). Howard Schultz, an entrepreneur joined the company in 1983 and later becoming the

“In 1981, Howard Schultz, vice president and general manager of US operations for a Swedish maker of stylish kitchen equipment and coffeemakers, decided to pay Starbucks a visit” (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland III, & McGraw-Hill, 2013). Schultz’s trip was out of curiosity to see why Starbucks was selling so many of his company’s products. However, during his stay in Seattle, Schultz fell in love with Starbucks and shortly after returning to New York, sought a way to become more involved in the company. It took almost a year for Schultz to convince the Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker that he would be a good addition to their company, but in the fall of 1982,

The wildly successful coffee shop that can be seen around the world started from a humble beginning with just one single store in Seattle’s Pike Place market, as a retailer of whole beans

Starbucks Coffee Company was founded in 1971, opening its first location in Seattle's Pike Place Market. Starbucks, named after the first mate in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, is the world's leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee with coffeehouses in North America, Europe, Middle East, Latin America and the Pacific Rim. Worldwide, approximately 33 million customers visit a Starbucks coffeehouse each week.

Starbucks coffee company was founded in 1971, opening its first store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market selling coffee beans only. During this time most coffee was purchased in a can directly from supermarket shelves. Starbucks’ concept of selling

“Where’s the Starbucks,” a question I was familiar with halfway through my first summer working at the Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA. Seattle, WA is the home of the Flagship Starbucks store. The inside is teeny, and if you blink twice you will miss the familiar sign. It is a tiny store front nestled into a side row of buildings. “On the right, look hard for the sign, after the vegetable stands (Allen, 2015). The Starbucks brand is now one of the worlds most recognized symbol. “Currently Starbucks creates stores with colours(sic) and furniture designed from a central corporate template, which has helped it become one of the most recognisable(sic) brands in the world with more than 16,000 outlets around the globe, with 700 stores in the UK and Ireland” (Hough, 2009). Is the Starbuck’s brand

They had become hooked on the dark-roasted coffee Alfred Peet advocated over the light-roasted coffee found in most large stores. Peet had encouraged their desires to bring dark-roasted coffee to the Seattle, Washington marketplace. He taught them that the fullest flavor is from a very dark roasting of the coffee beans (Schultz, 1997). The First Starbucks The three partners initially disagreed over naming their new coffee company. Gordon consulted with a creative business associate, artist Terry Heckler, about naming the store “Pequod” after the ship in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Terry told him, “You’re crazy! No one’s going to drink a cup of Pequod!” (Schultz, 1997). Eventually, the Starbucks name was chosen as a derivative of “Starbo,” the name of a Mt. Rainier mining camp in the 1930s (Skoog, 2002). Baldwin liked the additional connection to Starbuck, a character from Moby Dick.

Starbucks’ opened its first store in 1971, at Pike Place Market in Seattle, by three partners Zev Siegel, Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. Starbucks opened with the intent of being a gourmet coffee bean retailer and coffee equipment seller. The Starbucks name and logo came from two influences; a character named Starbuck in the classic book, Moby Dick, and a mining camp on the base of Mt. Rainier called Starbo. These two influences were combined to create Starbucks.

“Starbucks is known as one of the foremost retailers, roasters, and brands of speciality coffee in the world after working hard in getting succeed.” They are obligated to offering customers the premier quality coffee and the highest coffee familiarity, while functioning in techniques that generate social, environmental, and economic advantages for the society in which they do their business. (Super brands, 2012) Similarly, “they are functioning and authorization beyond than 8,500 coffee shops in more than 30 countries. (Starbucks, 2013). Furthermore, they offer a variety of regular or decaffeinated beverages, comprising at least one coffee of the day with our own choice of Italian-style espresso beverage, cold blended drinks, and a variety of finest teas and packaged roasted high quality of entire bean coffees.” (Starbucks, 2013) They also offer a variety of fresh pastries and confectionaries, sodas, juices and coffee making accessories. Furthermore, they wholesale their whole bean coffees via famous trade group and supermarkets. (Starbucks, 2013) Additionally, they manufactures and wholesales bottled Frappuccino Coffee drink and a finest ice creams via its joint ventures, partnerships and proposals by its entirely owned supplementary, Tazo Tea Company. The company’s main attempt is to touch the success and become the famous and respected brand in the world.

In order to enforce its exacting coffee standards, Starbucks tries its best to control the whole supply chain. The company works with growers in various countries to purchase green coffee beans, oversees the custom-roasting process for the company's various blends and single-origin coffees, and controls the distribution to retail

Our story began in 1971. Back then we were a roaster and retailer of whole bean and ground coffee, tea and spices with a single store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market.

Throughout history, coffee has played an important role in cultures all around the world. The café society, which developed in England and France between 1680 and 1730, served as cultural exchange by bringing together poets, musicians and artists (Lyons, 2005). To this day, writers and graphic designers can be seen working in coffee shops across the county. Additionally, coffee shops have long been considered a place for intellectual and political discussion ( Blank & Vooren, 2007). Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that during the specialty coffee boom of the 1970’s, company’s like Starbuck’s began to expand into neighborhoods close to museums, colleges, and art galleries ( Lyons, 2005). In short, coffee shops have a long history of attracting intellectual and creative individuals.

Starbucks was conceived in 1971 in Seattle, Washington by three business partners – Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker. Back then, Starbucks was only selling whole-bean coffee and coffee-making equipment in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. They hired Howard Schultz as the Director of Retail Operations. When Schultz went to Milan, Italy to conduct a buying trip from suppliers, he noticed that