What makes Starbucks so famous?!
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: [3]; SEHK: 4337) is a multinational coffee and coffeehouse chain company based in the United States. Named after the first mate in the novel Moby-Dick, Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world,[1] with 8,505 company-owned and 6,506 licensed stores in 42 countries, making a total of 15,011 stores worldwide.[2] Starbucks sells drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold drinks, snacks and items such as mugs and coffee beans. Through its Starbucks Entertainment division and Hear Music brand, the company also markets books, music, and film. Many of these products are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Starbucks brand ice cream and coffee are also sold at grocery stores.
From its founding in Seattle, Washington, as a local coffee bean roaster and retailer, Starbucks has expanded rapidly. In the 1990s, the company was opening a new store every workday, a pace that continued into the 2000s. Domestic growth has since slowed down, though the company continues to expand in foreign markets and is opening 7 stores a day worldwide. The first location outside of the U.S. and Canada was established in 1996, and they now constitute almost one third of Starbucks' stores.[3]
As of November 2007, Starbucks had 8,505 company-owned outlets worldwide: 6,793 of them in the United States and 1,712 in other countries and U.S. territories. In addition, the company has 6,506 joint-venture and licensed outlets, 3,891 of them in the United States and 2,615 in other countries and U.S. territories. This brings the total locations (as of November 2007) to 15,011 worldwide.[2] Starbucks can be found in many popular grocery chains in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in many airports.
Starbucks' corporate headquarters are in Seattle, Washington, United States. As of January 2008, the members of the company's board of directors are Howard Schultz (Chair), Barbara Bass, Howard Behar, Bill Bradley, Mellody Hobson, Olden Lee, James Shennan, Jr., Javier Teruel, Myron Ullman, III, and Craig Weatherup.
History
The original Starbucks opened in Seattle, Washington, in 1970 by three partners: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegel, and writer Gordon Bowker. The three were inspired by Alfred Peet, whom they knew personally, to open their first store in Pike Place Market to sell high-quality coffee beans and equipment. The original Starbucks location was at 2000 Western Avenue from 1971-1976. That store then moved to 1912 Pike Place; it is still open. During their first year of operation, they purchased green coffee beans from Peet's, then began buying directly from growers.
A Starbucks coffee shop in Leeds, United KingdomEntrepreneur Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982, and, after a trip to Milan, advised that the company sell coffee and espresso drinks as well as beans. The owners rejected this idea, believing that getting into the beverage business would distract the company from its primary focus. To them, coffee was something to be prepared in the home. Certain that there was much money to be made selling drinks to on-the-go Americans, Schultz started the Il Giornale coffee bar chain in 1985.
In 1984, the original owners of Starbucks, led by Baldwin, took the opportunity to purchase Peet's (Baldwin still works there today). In 1987, they sold the Starbucks chain to Schultz's Il Giornale, which rebranded the Il Giornale outlets as Starbucks and quickly began to expand. Starbucks opened its first locations outside Seattle at Waterfront Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (which now has more locations than anywhere in the world)[citation needed] and Chicago, Illinois, United States that same year. At the time of its initial public offering on the stock market in 1992, Starbucks had grown to 165 outlets.
Schultz hired Wright Massey to completely redesign the stores in 1995. Massey created the Synergistic Rollout Program that built one store per day, saving Starbucks US$20 million a year. Massey also established the Creative Services Group which produced the brand identity and the store design through a brand story. In the book Pour Your Heart into It, Schultz stated: "Wright's goal was to raise our store design to a higher level, leaping ahead of our competitors. He aimed to create a lyrical and aesthetic new design, with richness and texture, strong enough to tell the Starbucks story, going beyond just a revised new color scheme, another kind of wood, or a new style of chairs, and trying to capture the essence of the Starbucks experience. He directed his creative team to draw from culture and mythology to weave a fantastic tale."
Starbucks created a visual brand language that was recognizable and distinctive, the way Coca-Cola maintained the color red, the Spencerian script, and the green bottle for over 100 years. The visual brand language consisted of icons, stories, and color palettes that convey the look and feel of Starbucks graphics.
Starbucks Headquarters, Seattle.The first Starbucks location outside of North America opened in Tokyo in 1996. Starbucks entered the U.K. market in 1998 with the acquisition of the then 60-outlet, UK-based Seattle Coffee Company, re-branding all its stores as Starbucks. By November 2005, London had more outlets than Manhattan,[4] a sign of Starbucks becoming an international brand.
In April 2003, Starbucks completed the purchase of Seattle's Best Coffee and Torrefazione Italia from AFC Enterprises, bringing the total number of Starbucks-operated locations worldwide to more than 6,400. On September 14, 2006, rival Diedrich Coffee announced that it would sell most of its company-owned retail stores to Starbucks. This sale includes the company owned locations of the Oregon-based Coffee People chain. Starbucks representatives have been quoted as saying they will convert the Diedrich Coffee and Coffee People locations to Starbucks stores.[5][6]
Starbucks' chairman, Howard Schultz, has talked about the tension that exists in the company between their rapid expansion (they aim to eventually operate 40,000 retail stores worldwide)[7] and their collective desire to act like a small company.
[edit] Products
A Starbucks Venti Java Chip FrappuccinoStarbucks serves a variety of beverages including brewed coffee, hot chocolate, espresso, teas, and Frappuccino. Also available are bottled beverages including Odwalla, Ethos water, San Pellegrino, Izze soda, and Horizon Organic Milk.
Starbucks has a 'you-call-it' culture allowing the customer to specify all modifications to the drink. For example instead of just ordering a Cafe Mocha, customers can order an iced-decaf-triple-grande-five pump-soy-no whip-Mocha. Any beverage can have various flavored syrups and whipped cream may be added. Cappuccinos, and all other beverages with steamed-milk, can be made with more foam ("dry") or less foam ("wet"). Starbucks also offers blended beverages, such as its trademark "Frappuccino Blended Coffee", a flavored drink of coffee, milk and sugar blended with ice. The name is a portmanteau of “frappé” and “cappuccino,” and was introduced in 1995. Along with Coffee Frappuccino base, Starbucks has a "Crème" base to make popular beverages such as Strawberries and Crème Frappuccino blended creme or a Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino blended Creme. Starbucks owns the words "Frappuccino Blended Coffee" and "Frappuccino Blended Creme" but they do not own the words 'Frapp' or 'Frappuccino'. In the mid-1990's Starbucks developed an unsuccessful carbonated coffee flavored soda called Mazagran. Starbucks has special beverages for the holidy season like the Peppermint Mocha and Eggnog Latte, as well as Christmas Blend whole bean coffee, which is a blend of Asia/Pacific coffees and aged Indonesian beans. Starbucks also packages the same blend of beans in a 'Holiday Blend' bag, for those who do not celebrate Christmas.
Starbucks supplements the beverage offerings with pastries, salads, cold sandwiches, hot panini, coffee merchandise and at-home brewing equipment, bagged or scooped coffee beans and, in some regions, pre-made hot breakfast muffin sandwiches.
In May of 2006, Money Magazine rated Starbucks coffee #2 nationally (second only to Caribou Coffee) and #7 internationally.
[edit] Stores
Starbucks does not franchise with individuals within North America but does enter into licensing arrangements with some companies.[8] One example is of Starbucks store locations in airports, most of which are operated by HMSHost, owned by the Italian Autogrill group. Other licensed locations include grocery stores, major food services corporations, college and university campuses, and hospitals. In addition, Starbucks has partnered with Magic Johnson's Johnson Development Corporation to form Urban Coffee Opportunities, which opens retail locations in low-income urban areas.[9]
[edit] Staffing
There are usually from two to six partners (as Starbucks employees are called), all of them trained baristas, in each retail store at any one time. Black aprons labeled "Coffee Master" are worn by employees who have completed the Coffee Master course, which educates employees in not only the tasting, but also growing regions, roasting and purchasing (including fair trade practices) aspects of the coffee industry.
In the United States and Canada Starbucks offers full benefits such as health, dental, and vision insurance, as well as stock-option grants and 401k with matching to employees who work an average of at least 20 hours per week. Each employee can receive a box of tea or a pound of coffee each week if they choose. As of 2007, Starbucks was ranked by Fortune magazine as the 16th best company to work for in the United States, up from 29th in 2006. In 2005 it was ranked the 11th best.[10] Starbucks was also voted as one of the top ten UK workplaces by the Financial Times in 2007.
[edit] “The Third Place”
Starbucks in Frankfurt am Main, GermanyStarbucks envisions local outlets as a “third place” (besides home and work) to spend time, and store design is intended to achieve this. The café section of the store is often outfitted with stuffed chairs and tables with hard-backed chairs. Most stores provide free electricity for customers, and many stores also have wireless internet access called hotspots provided by T-Mobile.[11] Both an unsecured and secured (with a client) Wi-Fi connections are available.[12]
The company is noted for its non-smoking policy at almost all of its outlets, despite predictions that this would never succeed in markets such as Germany, which used to have few restrictions on smoking. This has changed in 2007 with many German states issuing smoking bans for restaurants and bars. Outlets in Vienna and Mexico City, which have smoking rooms separated by double doors from the coffee shop itself, and a smoking room upstairs in the Largo do Senado, Macau, branch are the closest the company has come to making exceptions. According to the company, the smoking ban is to ensure that the coffee aroma is not adulterated. The company also asks its employees to refrain from wearing strong perfumes for similar reasons.[13] Starbucks generally does not prohibit smoking in outside seating areas, unless required by local codes.
[edit] International operations
Countries that contain Starbucks stores
A typical sales area, this one in Peterborough, UK, showing a display of food and the beverage preparation areaStores are now found in Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia[14], Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
New stores are also going to be opened in Argentina[15], Bulgaria[16] , Colombia[17], Czech Republic[18], Hungary[19], India, Morocco, Poland[20], Portugal[21], Serbia and South Africa.
[edit] Intellectual property
Starbucks U.S. Brands, LLC, is a Starbucks-owned company that currently holds and owns the property rights to approximately 120 Starbucks Coffee Company patents and trademarks. It is located at 2525 Starbucks Way in Minden, Nevada.[22]
[edit] Name
The company is named in part after Starbuck, Captain Ahab's first mate in the book Moby-Dick, as well as a turn-of-the-century mining camp (Starbo or Storbo) on Mount Rainier. According to Howard Schultz's book Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, the name of the company was derived from Moby-Dick, although not in as direct a fashion as many assume. Gordon Bowker liked the name "Pequod" (the ship in the novel), but his creative partner Terry Heckler responded, "No one's going to drink a cup of Pee-quod!" Heckler suggested "Starbo." Brainstorming with these two ideas resulted in the company being named for the Pequod's first mate, Starbuck.[23]
International names include:
Arabic-speaking countries: ??????? transliteration (stārbaks)
China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan: 星巴克 Pinyin: xīngbākè (星 xīng means "star", while 巴bā 克kè is a transliteration of "-bucks")
Israel: ???????
Japan: スターバックス transliteration (sutābakkusu)
South Korea: ???? transliteration (seutabeokseu), often used in conjunction with the English name
Quebec, Canada: Café Starbucks Coffee[24] (added the French word to avoid controversy with local language politics)
Thailand: ?????????? pronounced [sǒtā?bāk?ō]
[edit] Logo
The logo is a "twin-tailed mermaid" (the siren of Greek mythology).[25] The logo has been streamlined over the years. In the first version, the Starbucks siren was topless and had a fully-visible double fish tail. In the second version, her chest was covered by her flowing hair, but her navel was still visible, and the fish tail was cropped slightly. In the current version, her navel and chest are not visible at all, and only vestiges remain of the fish tails. The original logo can still be seen on the Starbucks store in Seattle's Pike Place Market and on certain coffee bags.
At the beginning of September 2006, Starbucks temporarily reintroduced its original brown logo on paper hot drink cups. Starbucks has stated that this was done to show the company's heritage from the Pacific Northwest and to celebrate 35 years of business. The vintage logo has sparked some controversy due to the siren's bare chest. Recently, an elementary school principal in Kent, Washington, was reported as asking teachers to "cover up" the mermaid of the retro cups with a cup sleeve of some kind.[25]
[edit] Parodies and infringements
In 2000, San Francisco cartoonist Kieron Dwyer was sued by Starbucks for copyright and trademark infringement after creating a parody of its siren logo and putting it on coffee mugs, t-shirts, and stickers that he sold on his website and at comic book conventions. Dwyer felt that since his work was a parody it was protected by his right to free speech under U.S. law. The judge agreed that Dwyer's work was a parody and thus enjoyed constitutional protection; however, he was forbidden from financially "profiting" from using a "confusingly similar" image of the Starbucks siren logo. Dwyer is currently allowed to display the image as an expression of free speech, but he can no longer sell it.[26]
In 2003, Starbucks successfully sued a Shanghai competitor in China for trademark infringement, because that chain used a green-and-white logo with a similar sounding Chinese name.[27]
Also in 2003, Starbucks sent a cease-and-desist letter to "HaidaBucks Coffee House" in Masset, British Columbia, Canada. The store was owned by a group of young Haida men, commonly referred to as "bucks." After facing criticism, Starbucks dropped its demand after HaidaBucks dropped "coffee house" from its name.[28]
In 2005 Starbucks lost a trademark infringement case against a smaller coffee vendor in South Korea that operates coffee stations under the name and style Starpreya. The company, Elpreya, says Starpreya is named after the Norse goddess, Freja, with the letters of that name changed to ease pronunciation by Koreans. The court rejected the Seattle-based retailer's claim that the logo of Starpreya is too similar to the famous Starbucks logo.[citation needed]
[edit] Criticism and controversy
Starbucks has come to be regarded by some, particularly in the global justice movement, as symbolic of the problems posed by globalization. Several activist groups maintain websites criticizing the company's fair-trade policies, labor relations, and environmental impact, and hold it as a prime example of U.S. cultural and economic imperialism. Several Starbucks locations were vandalized during the WTO meeting held in Seattle in late 1999. Although no organization claimed responsibility for the vandalism, the anarchist circle-A symbol was spray-painted on several stores.[29]
[edit] Cultural imperialism
Starbucks at the Forbidden City in Beijing (closed since July 2007)The Starbucks location in the former imperial palace in Beijing closed in July 2007. The coffee shop had been a source of ongoing controversy since its opening in 2000 with protesters objecting that the presence of the American chain in this location "was trampling on Chinese culture".[30][31][32][33]
[edit] Anti-competitive tactics
Some of the methods Starbucks has used to expand and maintain their dominant market position, such as buying out competitors' leases, acquiring independent coffee shops and converting them into Starbucks stores, and clustering several locations in a small geographical area (i.e., saturating the market), have been labeled anti-competitive by critics.[34] For example, Starbucks fueled its initial expansion into the UK market with a buyout of its only major potential competitor (the 49 outlet, UK-based Seattle Coffee Company), then used its capital and influence to obtain prime locations, some of which operated at a financial loss. Critics claimed this was an unfair attempt to drive out small, independent competitors, who could not afford to pay inflated prices for premium real estate.[35]
[edit] Labor disputes
Since 2004, workers at seven Starbucks stores in New York City have joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) as the Starbucks Workers Union.[36] According to a Starbucks Union press release, since then, the union membership has begun expanding to Chicago and Maryland.[37] On March 7, 2006, the IWW and Starbucks agreed to a National Labor Relations Board settlement in which three Starbucks workers were granted almost US$2,000 in back wages and two fired employees were offered reinstatement.[38][39][40] According to the Starbucks Union, on November 24, 2006, IWW members picketed Starbucks locations in more than 50 cities around the world in countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain and New Zealand, as well as U.S. cities including New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and San Francisco,[41] to protest the firing of five Starbucks Workers Union organizers by Starbucks and to demand their reinstatement.
Some Starbucks baristas in Canada,[42] Australia and New Zealand,[43] and the United States[44] belong to a variety of unions. In 2005, Starbucks paid out US$165,000 to eight employees at its Kent, Washington, roasting plant to settle charges that they had been retaliated against for being pro-union. At the time, the plant workers were represented by the IUOE. Starbucks admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.[36]
A Starbucks strike occurred in Auckland, New Zealand, on November 23, 2005.[43] Organized by Unite Union, workers sought secure hours, a minimum wage of NZ$12 an hour, and the abolition of youth rates. The company settled with the Union in 2006, resulting in pay increases, increased security of hours, and an improvement in youth rates.[45]
According to Starbucks Chairman Howard Schulz, "If they had faith in me and my motives, they wouldn't need a union." According to The Seattle Times, "The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 286 had trouble with Starbucks at its Kent roasting plant, where the union no longer represents workers".[36]
[edit] Coffee bean market
In 2000, the company introduced a line of fair trade products[46]
Of the approximately 136,000 tonnes (300 million pounds) of coffee Starbucks purchased in 2006, about 6 percent was certified as fair trade.[47]
According to Starbucks, they purchased 2,180 tonnes (4.8 million pounds) of Certified Fair Trade coffee in fiscal year 2004 and 5,220 tonnes (11.5 million pounds) in 2005. They have become the largest buyer of Certified Fair Trade coffee in North America (10% of the global market) and the only company licensed to sell Certified Fair Trade coffee in 23 countries.[48] Transfair USA,[49] the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade Certified coffee in the United States, has noted the impact Starbucks has made in the area of Fair Trade and coffee farmer's lives by saying:
Since launching {their} FTC coffee line in 2000, Starbucks has undeniably made a significant contribution to family farmers through their rapidly growing FTC coffee volume. By offering FTC coffee in thousands of stores, Starbucks has also given the FTC label greater visibility, helping to raise consumer awareness in the process.
Groups such as Global Exchange are calling for Starbucks to further increase its sales of fair trade coffees. However, fair trade certification can cost US$20,000 to US$30,000[citation needed], and many growers are unwilling or unable to pay for certification[citation needed].
[edit] Ethos water controversy
Ethos, a brand of bottled water acquired by Starbucks in 2005, is sold at locations throughout North America. Ethos bottles feature prominent labeling stating "helping children get clean water", referring to the fact that $.05 from each $1.80USD bottle sold ($.10 per unit in Canada) is used to fund clean water projects in under-developed areas. Critics have argued that the claim on the label misleads consumers into thinking that Ethos is primarily a charitable organization, when it is actually a for-profit Starbucks brand and the vast majority of the sale price (over 94%) does not support clean-water projects.[50] Although sales of Ethos water has raised over $4,000,000 for clean water efforts, the brand is not a charity and has added to Starbucks revenue.[51] The founders of Ethos have stated that the brand is intended to raise awareness of third-world clean water issues and provide socially responsible consumers with an opportunity to support the cause by choosing Ethos over other brands.[52]
[edit] Other ventures
Main article: Hear Music
Starbucks entered the music industry in 1999 with the acquisition of Hear Music, and the film industry in 2006 with the creation of Starbucks Entertainment. Starbucks Entertainment was one of the producers of the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee. Retail stores heavily advertised the film before its release.
Hear Music is the brand name of Starbucks' retail music concept. Hear Music began as a catalog company in 1990 and was purchased by Starbucks in 1999. Nearly three years later, in 2002, they produced a Starbucks opera album, featuring artists such as Luciano Pavarotti.
A partnership with Apple Inc. has been established in which Apple's iPod touch and iPhone will (using their built-in Wi-Fi capabilities) automatically detect the current and last 10 songs playing in a Starbucks café within the vicinity of the device, and offers the user the opportunity to download the tracks in the iTunes music store. This feature will slowly be offered in limited markets during 2007-2008.[53
Answers: LOVE THEIR COFFE,heres some stuff on them
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: [3]; SEHK: 4337) is a multinational coffee and coffeehouse chain company based in the United States. Named after the first mate in the novel Moby-Dick, Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world,[1] with 8,505 company-owned and 6,506 licensed stores in 42 countries, making a total of 15,011 stores worldwide.[2] Starbucks sells drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold drinks, snacks and items such as mugs and coffee beans. Through its Starbucks Entertainment division and Hear Music brand, the company also markets books, music, and film. Many of these products are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Starbucks brand ice cream and coffee are also sold at grocery stores.
From its founding in Seattle, Washington, as a local coffee bean roaster and retailer, Starbucks has expanded rapidly. In the 1990s, the company was opening a new store every workday, a pace that continued into the 2000s. Domestic growth has since slowed down, though the company continues to expand in foreign markets and is opening 7 stores a day worldwide. The first location outside of the U.S. and Canada was established in 1996, and they now constitute almost one third of Starbucks' stores.[3]
As of November 2007, Starbucks had 8,505 company-owned outlets worldwide: 6,793 of them in the United States and 1,712 in other countries and U.S. territories. In addition, the company has 6,506 joint-venture and licensed outlets, 3,891 of them in the United States and 2,615 in other countries and U.S. territories. This brings the total locations (as of November 2007) to 15,011 worldwide.[2] Starbucks can be found in many popular grocery chains in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in many airports.
Starbucks' corporate headquarters are in Seattle, Washington, United States. As of January 2008, the members of the company's board of directors are Howard Schultz (Chair), Barbara Bass, Howard Behar, Bill Bradley, Mellody Hobson, Olden Lee, James Shennan, Jr., Javier Teruel, Myron Ullman, III, and Craig Weatherup.
History
The original Starbucks opened in Seattle, Washington, in 1970 by three partners: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegel, and writer Gordon Bowker. The three were inspired by Alfred Peet, whom they knew personally, to open their first store in Pike Place Market to sell high-quality coffee beans and equipment. The original Starbucks location was at 2000 Western Avenue from 1971-1976. That store then moved to 1912 Pike Place; it is still open. During their first year of operation, they purchased green coffee beans from Peet's, then began buying directly from growers.
A Starbucks coffee shop in Leeds, United KingdomEntrepreneur Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982, and, after a trip to Milan, advised that the company sell coffee and espresso drinks as well as beans. The owners rejected this idea, believing that getting into the beverage business would distract the company from its primary focus. To them, coffee was something to be prepared in the home. Certain that there was much money to be made selling drinks to on-the-go Americans, Schultz started the Il Giornale coffee bar chain in 1985.
In 1984, the original owners of Starbucks, led by Baldwin, took the opportunity to purchase Peet's (Baldwin still works there today). In 1987, they sold the Starbucks chain to Schultz's Il Giornale, which rebranded the Il Giornale outlets as Starbucks and quickly began to expand. Starbucks opened its first locations outside Seattle at Waterfront Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (which now has more locations than anywhere in the world)[citation needed] and Chicago, Illinois, United States that same year. At the time of its initial public offering on the stock market in 1992, Starbucks had grown to 165 outlets.
Schultz hired Wright Massey to completely redesign the stores in 1995. Massey created the Synergistic Rollout Program that built one store per day, saving Starbucks US$20 million a year. Massey also established the Creative Services Group which produced the brand identity and the store design through a brand story. In the book Pour Your Heart into It, Schultz stated: "Wright's goal was to raise our store design to a higher level, leaping ahead of our competitors. He aimed to create a lyrical and aesthetic new design, with richness and texture, strong enough to tell the Starbucks story, going beyond just a revised new color scheme, another kind of wood, or a new style of chairs, and trying to capture the essence of the Starbucks experience. He directed his creative team to draw from culture and mythology to weave a fantastic tale."
Starbucks created a visual brand language that was recognizable and distinctive, the way Coca-Cola maintained the color red, the Spencerian script, and the green bottle for over 100 years. The visual brand language consisted of icons, stories, and color palettes that convey the look and feel of Starbucks graphics.
Starbucks Headquarters, Seattle.The first Starbucks location outside of North America opened in Tokyo in 1996. Starbucks entered the U.K. market in 1998 with the acquisition of the then 60-outlet, UK-based Seattle Coffee Company, re-branding all its stores as Starbucks. By November 2005, London had more outlets than Manhattan,[4] a sign of Starbucks becoming an international brand.
In April 2003, Starbucks completed the purchase of Seattle's Best Coffee and Torrefazione Italia from AFC Enterprises, bringing the total number of Starbucks-operated locations worldwide to more than 6,400. On September 14, 2006, rival Diedrich Coffee announced that it would sell most of its company-owned retail stores to Starbucks. This sale includes the company owned locations of the Oregon-based Coffee People chain. Starbucks representatives have been quoted as saying they will convert the Diedrich Coffee and Coffee People locations to Starbucks stores.[5][6]
Starbucks' chairman, Howard Schultz, has talked about the tension that exists in the company between their rapid expansion (they aim to eventually operate 40,000 retail stores worldwide)[7] and their collective desire to act like a small company.
[edit] Products
A Starbucks Venti Java Chip FrappuccinoStarbucks serves a variety of beverages including brewed coffee, hot chocolate, espresso, teas, and Frappuccino. Also available are bottled beverages including Odwalla, Ethos water, San Pellegrino, Izze soda, and Horizon Organic Milk.
Starbucks has a 'you-call-it' culture allowing the customer to specify all modifications to the drink. For example instead of just ordering a Cafe Mocha, customers can order an iced-decaf-triple-grande-five pump-soy-no whip-Mocha. Any beverage can have various flavored syrups and whipped cream may be added. Cappuccinos, and all other beverages with steamed-milk, can be made with more foam ("dry") or less foam ("wet"). Starbucks also offers blended beverages, such as its trademark "Frappuccino Blended Coffee", a flavored drink of coffee, milk and sugar blended with ice. The name is a portmanteau of “frappé” and “cappuccino,” and was introduced in 1995. Along with Coffee Frappuccino base, Starbucks has a "Crème" base to make popular beverages such as Strawberries and Crème Frappuccino blended creme or a Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino blended Creme. Starbucks owns the words "Frappuccino Blended Coffee" and "Frappuccino Blended Creme" but they do not own the words 'Frapp' or 'Frappuccino'. In the mid-1990's Starbucks developed an unsuccessful carbonated coffee flavored soda called Mazagran. Starbucks has special beverages for the holidy season like the Peppermint Mocha and Eggnog Latte, as well as Christmas Blend whole bean coffee, which is a blend of Asia/Pacific coffees and aged Indonesian beans. Starbucks also packages the same blend of beans in a 'Holiday Blend' bag, for those who do not celebrate Christmas.
Starbucks supplements the beverage offerings with pastries, salads, cold sandwiches, hot panini, coffee merchandise and at-home brewing equipment, bagged or scooped coffee beans and, in some regions, pre-made hot breakfast muffin sandwiches.
In May of 2006, Money Magazine rated Starbucks coffee #2 nationally (second only to Caribou Coffee) and #7 internationally.
[edit] Stores
Starbucks does not franchise with individuals within North America but does enter into licensing arrangements with some companies.[8] One example is of Starbucks store locations in airports, most of which are operated by HMSHost, owned by the Italian Autogrill group. Other licensed locations include grocery stores, major food services corporations, college and university campuses, and hospitals. In addition, Starbucks has partnered with Magic Johnson's Johnson Development Corporation to form Urban Coffee Opportunities, which opens retail locations in low-income urban areas.[9]
[edit] Staffing
There are usually from two to six partners (as Starbucks employees are called), all of them trained baristas, in each retail store at any one time. Black aprons labeled "Coffee Master" are worn by employees who have completed the Coffee Master course, which educates employees in not only the tasting, but also growing regions, roasting and purchasing (including fair trade practices) aspects of the coffee industry.
In the United States and Canada Starbucks offers full benefits such as health, dental, and vision insurance, as well as stock-option grants and 401k with matching to employees who work an average of at least 20 hours per week. Each employee can receive a box of tea or a pound of coffee each week if they choose. As of 2007, Starbucks was ranked by Fortune magazine as the 16th best company to work for in the United States, up from 29th in 2006. In 2005 it was ranked the 11th best.[10] Starbucks was also voted as one of the top ten UK workplaces by the Financial Times in 2007.
[edit] “The Third Place”
Starbucks in Frankfurt am Main, GermanyStarbucks envisions local outlets as a “third place” (besides home and work) to spend time, and store design is intended to achieve this. The café section of the store is often outfitted with stuffed chairs and tables with hard-backed chairs. Most stores provide free electricity for customers, and many stores also have wireless internet access called hotspots provided by T-Mobile.[11] Both an unsecured and secured (with a client) Wi-Fi connections are available.[12]
The company is noted for its non-smoking policy at almost all of its outlets, despite predictions that this would never succeed in markets such as Germany, which used to have few restrictions on smoking. This has changed in 2007 with many German states issuing smoking bans for restaurants and bars. Outlets in Vienna and Mexico City, which have smoking rooms separated by double doors from the coffee shop itself, and a smoking room upstairs in the Largo do Senado, Macau, branch are the closest the company has come to making exceptions. According to the company, the smoking ban is to ensure that the coffee aroma is not adulterated. The company also asks its employees to refrain from wearing strong perfumes for similar reasons.[13] Starbucks generally does not prohibit smoking in outside seating areas, unless required by local codes.
[edit] International operations
Countries that contain Starbucks stores
A typical sales area, this one in Peterborough, UK, showing a display of food and the beverage preparation areaStores are now found in Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia[14], Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
New stores are also going to be opened in Argentina[15], Bulgaria[16] , Colombia[17], Czech Republic[18], Hungary[19], India, Morocco, Poland[20], Portugal[21], Serbia and South Africa.
[edit] Intellectual property
Starbucks U.S. Brands, LLC, is a Starbucks-owned company that currently holds and owns the property rights to approximately 120 Starbucks Coffee Company patents and trademarks. It is located at 2525 Starbucks Way in Minden, Nevada.[22]
[edit] Name
The company is named in part after Starbuck, Captain Ahab's first mate in the book Moby-Dick, as well as a turn-of-the-century mining camp (Starbo or Storbo) on Mount Rainier. According to Howard Schultz's book Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, the name of the company was derived from Moby-Dick, although not in as direct a fashion as many assume. Gordon Bowker liked the name "Pequod" (the ship in the novel), but his creative partner Terry Heckler responded, "No one's going to drink a cup of Pee-quod!" Heckler suggested "Starbo." Brainstorming with these two ideas resulted in the company being named for the Pequod's first mate, Starbuck.[23]
International names include:
Arabic-speaking countries: ??????? transliteration (stārbaks)
China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan: 星巴克 Pinyin: xīngbākè (星 xīng means "star", while 巴bā 克kè is a transliteration of "-bucks")
Israel: ???????
Japan: スターバックス transliteration (sutābakkusu)
South Korea: ???? transliteration (seutabeokseu), often used in conjunction with the English name
Quebec, Canada: Café Starbucks Coffee[24] (added the French word to avoid controversy with local language politics)
Thailand: ?????????? pronounced [sǒtā?bāk?ō]
[edit] Logo
The logo is a "twin-tailed mermaid" (the siren of Greek mythology).[25] The logo has been streamlined over the years. In the first version, the Starbucks siren was topless and had a fully-visible double fish tail. In the second version, her chest was covered by her flowing hair, but her navel was still visible, and the fish tail was cropped slightly. In the current version, her navel and chest are not visible at all, and only vestiges remain of the fish tails. The original logo can still be seen on the Starbucks store in Seattle's Pike Place Market and on certain coffee bags.
At the beginning of September 2006, Starbucks temporarily reintroduced its original brown logo on paper hot drink cups. Starbucks has stated that this was done to show the company's heritage from the Pacific Northwest and to celebrate 35 years of business. The vintage logo has sparked some controversy due to the siren's bare chest. Recently, an elementary school principal in Kent, Washington, was reported as asking teachers to "cover up" the mermaid of the retro cups with a cup sleeve of some kind.[25]
[edit] Parodies and infringements
In 2000, San Francisco cartoonist Kieron Dwyer was sued by Starbucks for copyright and trademark infringement after creating a parody of its siren logo and putting it on coffee mugs, t-shirts, and stickers that he sold on his website and at comic book conventions. Dwyer felt that since his work was a parody it was protected by his right to free speech under U.S. law. The judge agreed that Dwyer's work was a parody and thus enjoyed constitutional protection; however, he was forbidden from financially "profiting" from using a "confusingly similar" image of the Starbucks siren logo. Dwyer is currently allowed to display the image as an expression of free speech, but he can no longer sell it.[26]
In 2003, Starbucks successfully sued a Shanghai competitor in China for trademark infringement, because that chain used a green-and-white logo with a similar sounding Chinese name.[27]
Also in 2003, Starbucks sent a cease-and-desist letter to "HaidaBucks Coffee House" in Masset, British Columbia, Canada. The store was owned by a group of young Haida men, commonly referred to as "bucks." After facing criticism, Starbucks dropped its demand after HaidaBucks dropped "coffee house" from its name.[28]
In 2005 Starbucks lost a trademark infringement case against a smaller coffee vendor in South Korea that operates coffee stations under the name and style Starpreya. The company, Elpreya, says Starpreya is named after the Norse goddess, Freja, with the letters of that name changed to ease pronunciation by Koreans. The court rejected the Seattle-based retailer's claim that the logo of Starpreya is too similar to the famous Starbucks logo.[citation needed]
[edit] Criticism and controversy
Starbucks has come to be regarded by some, particularly in the global justice movement, as symbolic of the problems posed by globalization. Several activist groups maintain websites criticizing the company's fair-trade policies, labor relations, and environmental impact, and hold it as a prime example of U.S. cultural and economic imperialism. Several Starbucks locations were vandalized during the WTO meeting held in Seattle in late 1999. Although no organization claimed responsibility for the vandalism, the anarchist circle-A symbol was spray-painted on several stores.[29]
[edit] Cultural imperialism
Starbucks at the Forbidden City in Beijing (closed since July 2007)The Starbucks location in the former imperial palace in Beijing closed in July 2007. The coffee shop had been a source of ongoing controversy since its opening in 2000 with protesters objecting that the presence of the American chain in this location "was trampling on Chinese culture".[30][31][32][33]
[edit] Anti-competitive tactics
Some of the methods Starbucks has used to expand and maintain their dominant market position, such as buying out competitors' leases, acquiring independent coffee shops and converting them into Starbucks stores, and clustering several locations in a small geographical area (i.e., saturating the market), have been labeled anti-competitive by critics.[34] For example, Starbucks fueled its initial expansion into the UK market with a buyout of its only major potential competitor (the 49 outlet, UK-based Seattle Coffee Company), then used its capital and influence to obtain prime locations, some of which operated at a financial loss. Critics claimed this was an unfair attempt to drive out small, independent competitors, who could not afford to pay inflated prices for premium real estate.[35]
[edit] Labor disputes
Since 2004, workers at seven Starbucks stores in New York City have joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) as the Starbucks Workers Union.[36] According to a Starbucks Union press release, since then, the union membership has begun expanding to Chicago and Maryland.[37] On March 7, 2006, the IWW and Starbucks agreed to a National Labor Relations Board settlement in which three Starbucks workers were granted almost US$2,000 in back wages and two fired employees were offered reinstatement.[38][39][40] According to the Starbucks Union, on November 24, 2006, IWW members picketed Starbucks locations in more than 50 cities around the world in countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain and New Zealand, as well as U.S. cities including New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and San Francisco,[41] to protest the firing of five Starbucks Workers Union organizers by Starbucks and to demand their reinstatement.
Some Starbucks baristas in Canada,[42] Australia and New Zealand,[43] and the United States[44] belong to a variety of unions. In 2005, Starbucks paid out US$165,000 to eight employees at its Kent, Washington, roasting plant to settle charges that they had been retaliated against for being pro-union. At the time, the plant workers were represented by the IUOE. Starbucks admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement.[36]
A Starbucks strike occurred in Auckland, New Zealand, on November 23, 2005.[43] Organized by Unite Union, workers sought secure hours, a minimum wage of NZ$12 an hour, and the abolition of youth rates. The company settled with the Union in 2006, resulting in pay increases, increased security of hours, and an improvement in youth rates.[45]
According to Starbucks Chairman Howard Schulz, "If they had faith in me and my motives, they wouldn't need a union." According to The Seattle Times, "The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 286 had trouble with Starbucks at its Kent roasting plant, where the union no longer represents workers".[36]
[edit] Coffee bean market
In 2000, the company introduced a line of fair trade products[46]
Of the approximately 136,000 tonnes (300 million pounds) of coffee Starbucks purchased in 2006, about 6 percent was certified as fair trade.[47]
According to Starbucks, they purchased 2,180 tonnes (4.8 million pounds) of Certified Fair Trade coffee in fiscal year 2004 and 5,220 tonnes (11.5 million pounds) in 2005. They have become the largest buyer of Certified Fair Trade coffee in North America (10% of the global market) and the only company licensed to sell Certified Fair Trade coffee in 23 countries.[48] Transfair USA,[49] the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade Certified coffee in the United States, has noted the impact Starbucks has made in the area of Fair Trade and coffee farmer's lives by saying:
Since launching {their} FTC coffee line in 2000, Starbucks has undeniably made a significant contribution to family farmers through their rapidly growing FTC coffee volume. By offering FTC coffee in thousands of stores, Starbucks has also given the FTC label greater visibility, helping to raise consumer awareness in the process.
Groups such as Global Exchange are calling for Starbucks to further increase its sales of fair trade coffees. However, fair trade certification can cost US$20,000 to US$30,000[citation needed], and many growers are unwilling or unable to pay for certification[citation needed].
[edit] Ethos water controversy
Ethos, a brand of bottled water acquired by Starbucks in 2005, is sold at locations throughout North America. Ethos bottles feature prominent labeling stating "helping children get clean water", referring to the fact that $.05 from each $1.80USD bottle sold ($.10 per unit in Canada) is used to fund clean water projects in under-developed areas. Critics have argued that the claim on the label misleads consumers into thinking that Ethos is primarily a charitable organization, when it is actually a for-profit Starbucks brand and the vast majority of the sale price (over 94%) does not support clean-water projects.[50] Although sales of Ethos water has raised over $4,000,000 for clean water efforts, the brand is not a charity and has added to Starbucks revenue.[51] The founders of Ethos have stated that the brand is intended to raise awareness of third-world clean water issues and provide socially responsible consumers with an opportunity to support the cause by choosing Ethos over other brands.[52]
[edit] Other ventures
Main article: Hear Music
Starbucks entered the music industry in 1999 with the acquisition of Hear Music, and the film industry in 2006 with the creation of Starbucks Entertainment. Starbucks Entertainment was one of the producers of the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee. Retail stores heavily advertised the film before its release.
Hear Music is the brand name of Starbucks' retail music concept. Hear Music began as a catalog company in 1990 and was purchased by Starbucks in 1999. Nearly three years later, in 2002, they produced a Starbucks opera album, featuring artists such as Luciano Pavarotti.
A partnership with Apple Inc. has been established in which Apple's iPod touch and iPhone will (using their built-in Wi-Fi capabilities) automatically detect the current and last 10 songs playing in a Starbucks café within the vicinity of the device, and offers the user the opportunity to download the tracks in the iTunes music store. This feature will slowly be offered in limited markets during 2007-2008.[53
its delicous and expensive and its setting is beeter then DD i guess haha
their coffee?
Starbucks is everywhere. They are famous for their coffee and other drinks too like their frapps which are really good.
try one of their java chip frapps and you will know.
Benny the Beaver liked to sing a song! Really he did...... I'M TELLING YOU HE DID!!
They were the first to make coffee sexy.
The name sells itself and their coffees.....try a Caramel Macchiatto with soy milk....yummy
Americans like things that appear expensive. Americans like coffee! Star Bucks is expensive, but affordable.
haven't you seen a star bucks player tee shirt
...i refuse to darken their doors......i cant remember why.....
...but it was a good reason at the time....
Gullible people willing to pay 5.00 for coffee for the status of having a 2 cent paper cup with their name on it....
Cause so much different types of stuff and people like that crap....lol :P
People's desire for familiarity and a lack of adventurousness when travelling. People go away from home and say "Oh there is a starbucks " instead of tryiing a local small operator who maybe roasts their own coffee. People for some reason like brands. Same way as they buy MacDOnalds instead of a great homemade burger from a local cafe. Sad but true.
They were the first ones to capitalize on the fact that Americans, just as Europeans, particularly the French, prefer to Nosh and sip good coffee in a Cafe setting and have them on every corner.
It's not that good it's just they are very high in advertising and other places don't advertise as much as they do. and that is how they make all the money and attract customers.
its yummy
its amazing coffe!!!!
well, their coffee really isn't that great, that is just their plain black coffee. it's over roasted and bitter. some of their espresso drinks are pretty good though. the reason they are so popular is because they have really good marketing. they have cultivated a great image for themselves. also, they were the first company to bring coffee awareness to the general population in america. they were the first to offer espresso based beverages to a large customer base in this country.