Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Starbucks shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Starbucks offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Starbucks at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Starbucks? Wrong! If the Starbucks is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Starbucks then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Starbucks? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Starbucks and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Starbucks wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Starbucks then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Starbucks site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Starbucks, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Starbucks, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox_Company| company_name = Starbucks Corporation| company_logo = | company_type = Public company (,)| company_slogan =| foundation = In 1971 across from Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, [Washington, United States| key_people = Howard Schultz, Chairman
Jim Donald, President & Chief Executive Officer
James C. Alling, President, Starbucks U.S.
Martin Coles, President, Starbucks International
Michael Casey, Chief Financial Officers
Retail [Coffee & Tea
Retail
Entertainment
[Tea
Made-to-order beverages Bottled beverages
Baking
Merchandise
Frappuccino| subsid = Starbucks Coffee Company
Tazo
Seattle's Best Coffee
Torrefazione Italia
Hear Music
Ethos water| revenue = $7.786 billion United States dollar (2006)| homepage = Starbucks.com| -->

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX; ) is a coffeehouse List of coffeehouse chains based in the United States. Named after the first mate in the novel Moby-Dick, Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse Corporate law in the world Hoovers.com. URL last accessed September 5, 2006., with 7,521 company-owned and 5,647 licensed stores in 40 countries, making a total of 13,168 stores worldwide. Starbucks Company Fact Sheet. URL last accessed March 17, 2007. Starbucks serves drip brew, 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 has ventured beyond refreshments into 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, 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 international location outside of the U.S. and Canada was established in 1996, and they now constitute almost one third of Starbucks' stores. Starbucks Company Profile

As of February 2007, Starbucks had 7,521 company-owned outlets worldwide: 6,010 of them in the United States and 1,511 in other countries and U.S. territories. In addition, the company has 5,647 joint-venture and licensed outlets, 3,391 of them in the United States and 2,256 in other countries and U.S. territories. This brings the total locations (as of February 2007) to 13,168 worldwide.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 March 2007, the members of the company's board of directors are Howard Schultz (Chair), Jim Donald, 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, Washington, in 1971 by three partners: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Kristina Taplin, 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 Coffee & Tea, then began buying directly from growers., 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 El Giornale outlets as Starbucks and quickly began to expand. Starbucks opened its first locations outside Seattle in Vancouver (which now has more locations than anywhere in the world), British Columbia, Canada (at Waterfront Station (Vancouver)) and Chicago, Illinois, United States that same year. At the time of its IPO on the stock market in 1992, Starbucks had grown to 165 outlets.

Schultz hired Anna Niess and Will Chassaing to completely redesign the stores in 1995, who 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.

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 Seattle Coffee Company, re-branding all its stores as Starbucks. By November 2005, London had more outlets than Manhattan, 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.

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) and their collective desire to act like a small company.

Products Starbucks serves a variety of beverages including brewed coffee, espresso, teas, and Frappuccinos. Also available are bottled beverages including Odwallas, Ethos water, San Pellegrinos, 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 Caffe 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 can be added. Cappuccinos 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 or a Double Chocolate Chip Crème Frappuccino.

Starbucks supplements these offerings with pastries, salads, cold sandwiches, juices, and bottled water as well as coffee merchandise and at-home brewing equipment, bagged or scooped coffee beans, and (in some regions) preassembled hot breakfast muffin sandwiches.

Stores Starbucks does not franchise with individuals within North America but does enter into licensing arrangements with some companies.{{cite web|url = http://www.starbucks.com/customer/faq_qanda.asp?name=businessopps|title = Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate = August 7|accessdaymonth =|accessmonthday =|accessyear = 2007--> One example is of Starbucks store locations in airports, most of which are operated by HMSHost (formerly Host Marriott Services). Other 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.

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 Starbucks offers full benefits such as health, dental, and vision insurance, as well as Option (finance) grants and 401k with matching to employees who work an average of at least 20 hours per week.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.Starbucks was also voted as one of the top ten UK workplaces by the Financial Times in 2007.

The Third Place

Starbucks envisions local outlets as a The 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 provided by T-Mobile.{{cite web |url=https://selfcare.hotspot.t-mobile.com/locations/viewLocationMap.do |title=T-Mobile HotSpotLocations --> Both an unsecured and secured (with a client) Wi-Fi connections are available.{{cite web |url=http://client.hotspot.t-mobile.com |title=Wireless Internet Access - T-Mobile Hotspot Client -->

The company is noted for its smoking ban 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 Tobacco smoking. This has changed in 2007 with many German states banning smoking in 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 Senado Square, Macau, branch are the closest the company has come to making an exception. 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. Starbucks generally does not prohibit smoking in outside seating areas, unless required by local codes.

International operations , UK, showing a display of food and the beverage preparation area

Internationally, however, Starbucks stores are generally operated by companies in which Starbucks holds a controlling interest. Starbucks owns 50% or less of the companies operating under licensing agreements in Austria, the Bahamas, Bahrain, parts of Canada (Quebec and the Maritime provinces), China (Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Shanghai only; other locations have Starbucks as the controlling owner), Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Greece, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

Stores are now found in Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Republic of Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia Reuters - "Starbucks opens first coffee shop in Russia", 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, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Morocco and Poland. Yahoo! Finance - "Starbucks Plans to Expand Into Argentina." AmRest - "RB 23/2007 Joint Venture Agreements with Starbucks"

In March 1998, it opened its first store in Taiwan. January of 1999, it opened its first mainland China store in the capital city - Beijing. May of 2000, it opened its first Shanghai store at Huaihai road's Libao skyscraper. In the same month, the first branch in Hong Kong was opened. August of 2002, it opened its first store in Macau. So far, it has about 500 stores in Greater China. There are about 230 stores in mainland in 22 cities. In September 2005, Starbucks donated 500 million US dollars to start its "Starbucks Chinese educational program" to help improve the Chinese educational situation, especially the middle west poor areas. At the end of 2005, "Starbucks business management, Ltd" was established in Shanghai to manage the business in Greater China.

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. USPTO

Name The company is named in part after Starbuck (Moby-Dick), 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.

International names include:

Logo The logo is a "twin-tailed mermaid, or siren, or mixoparthenos as she's in Greek mythology".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, Washington, was reported as asking teachers to "cover up" the mermaid of the retro cups with a cup sleeve of some kind.

Parodies and infringements In 2000, San Francisco, California 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.

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.

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.

The DC Comics universe has a fictional coffee company called "SunDollers", which was originally based in Star City, but is now present in every city, like Gotham City and Metropolis.

On the TV Show Scrubs the hospital coffee shop known as "Coffeebucks" is a combination of the Coffee Bean and Starbucks.

Criticism and controversy 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 on 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".International Herald Tribune: Starbucks closes coffeehouse in Beijing's Forbidden CityCNN.com: Starbucks out of China's Forbidden CityBBC News: Forbidden City Starbucks closesFairfax Media: Protests shut Starbucks in Beijing's imperial palace

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.Klein, N. (2001). No Logo New York: Flamingo, pp. 135-140 For example, Starbucks fueled its initial expansion into the UK market with a buyout of its only major potential competitor (the 49 outlet 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.BBC News. (2004, June 9). Store Wars: Cappuccino Kings". Retrieved 2007-10-07.

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. According to a Starbucks Union press release, since then, the union membership has begun expanding to Chicago and Maryland.http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1151 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. New York Magazine NLRB Settlement New York Press 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,http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1149 to protest the firing of five Starbucks Workers Union organizers by Starbucks and to demand their reinstatement.

Some Starbucks baristas in Canada, Vancouver Courier Australia and New Zealand, and the United States Crain's Chicago Business 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.

A Starbucks strike occurred in Auckland, New Zealand, on November 23, 2005. 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. National Business Review

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". In August 2006, a store in Vancouver de-unionized as the employees unanimously voted on the subject.

Retail market Starbucks has come to be regarded by some, particularly in the anti-globalization 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 World Trade Organization WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity. Although no organization claimed responsibility for the vandalism, the anarchism circle-A symbol was spray-painted on several stores. Edition.cnn.com URL last accessed July 3, 2006.

Coffee bean market In 2000, the company introduced a line of fair trade products Seattleweekly.com URL last accessed July 3, 2006.

Of the almost 300 million pounds of coffee Starbucks purchased in 2006, about 6 percent was certified as fair trade.{{cite web], 2006. Transfair USA, Transfair USA URL last accessed July 3, 2006 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:

{{bquote] 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, and many growers are unwilling or unable to pay for certification.

Ethos water controversy Ethos water, 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. NOW Magazine Maybe they're not trying to sell anything on World Water Day, but every other day of they year they are selling water. 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. Starbucks Corporation 2006 Annual Report 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.Walker, R. (2006, February 26). Consumed: Big Gulp. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2007-10-07

Other ventures 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. Apple Builds Ecosystem With iPod Touch Screen. (2007-09-05)

See also

References External links




{{Infobox_Company| company_name = Starbucks Corporation| company_logo = | company_type = Public company (,)| company_slogan =| foundation = In 1971 across from Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, [Washington, United States| key_people = Howard Schultz, Chairman
Jim Donald, President & Chief Executive Officer
James C. Alling, President, Starbucks U.S.
Martin Coles, President, Starbucks International
Michael Casey, Chief Financial Officers
Retail [Coffee & Tea
Retail
Entertainment
[Tea
Made-to-order beverages Bottled beverages
Baking
Merchandise
Frappuccino| subsid = Starbucks Coffee Company
Tazo
Seattle's Best Coffee
Torrefazione Italia
Hear Music
Ethos water| revenue = $7.786 billion United States dollar (2006)| homepage = Starbucks.com| -->

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX; ) is a coffeehouse List of coffeehouse chains based in the United States. Named after the first mate in the novel Moby-Dick, Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse Corporate law in the world Hoovers.com. URL last accessed September 5, 2006., with 7,521 company-owned and 5,647 licensed stores in 40 countries, making a total of 13,168 stores worldwide. Starbucks Company Fact Sheet. URL last accessed March 17, 2007. Starbucks serves drip brew, 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 has ventured beyond refreshments into 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, 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 international location outside of the U.S. and Canada was established in 1996, and they now constitute almost one third of Starbucks' stores. Starbucks Company Profile

As of February 2007, Starbucks had 7,521 company-owned outlets worldwide: 6,010 of them in the United States and 1,511 in other countries and U.S. territories. In addition, the company has 5,647 joint-venture and licensed outlets, 3,391 of them in the United States and 2,256 in other countries and U.S. territories. This brings the total locations (as of February 2007) to 13,168 worldwide.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 March 2007, the members of the company's board of directors are Howard Schultz (Chair), Jim Donald, 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, Washington, in 1971 by three partners: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Kristina Taplin, 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 Coffee & Tea, then began buying directly from growers., 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 El Giornale outlets as Starbucks and quickly began to expand. Starbucks opened its first locations outside Seattle in Vancouver (which now has more locations than anywhere in the world), British Columbia, Canada (at Waterfront Station (Vancouver)) and Chicago, Illinois, United States that same year. At the time of its IPO on the stock market in 1992, Starbucks had grown to 165 outlets.

Schultz hired Anna Niess and Will Chassaing to completely redesign the stores in 1995, who 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.

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 Seattle Coffee Company, re-branding all its stores as Starbucks. By November 2005, London had more outlets than Manhattan, 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.

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) and their collective desire to act like a small company.

Products Starbucks serves a variety of beverages including brewed coffee, espresso, teas, and Frappuccinos. Also available are bottled beverages including Odwallas, Ethos water, San Pellegrinos, 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 Caffe 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 can be added. Cappuccinos 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 or a Double Chocolate Chip Crème Frappuccino.

Starbucks supplements these offerings with pastries, salads, cold sandwiches, juices, and bottled water as well as coffee merchandise and at-home brewing equipment, bagged or scooped coffee beans, and (in some regions) preassembled hot breakfast muffin sandwiches.

Stores Starbucks does not franchise with individuals within North America but does enter into licensing arrangements with some companies.{{cite web|url = http://www.starbucks.com/customer/faq_qanda.asp?name=businessopps|title = Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate = August 7|accessdaymonth =|accessmonthday =|accessyear = 2007--> One example is of Starbucks store locations in airports, most of which are operated by HMSHost (formerly Host Marriott Services). Other 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.

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 Starbucks offers full benefits such as health, dental, and vision insurance, as well as Option (finance) grants and 401k with matching to employees who work an average of at least 20 hours per week.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.Starbucks was also voted as one of the top ten UK workplaces by the Financial Times in 2007.

The Third Place

Starbucks envisions local outlets as a The 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 provided by T-Mobile.{{cite web |url=https://selfcare.hotspot.t-mobile.com/locations/viewLocationMap.do |title=T-Mobile HotSpotLocations --> Both an unsecured and secured (with a client) Wi-Fi connections are available.{{cite web |url=http://client.hotspot.t-mobile.com |title=Wireless Internet Access - T-Mobile Hotspot Client -->

The company is noted for its smoking ban 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 Tobacco smoking. This has changed in 2007 with many German states banning smoking in 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 Senado Square, Macau, branch are the closest the company has come to making an exception. 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. Starbucks generally does not prohibit smoking in outside seating areas, unless required by local codes.

International operations , UK, showing a display of food and the beverage preparation area

Internationally, however, Starbucks stores are generally operated by companies in which Starbucks holds a controlling interest. Starbucks owns 50% or less of the companies operating under licensing agreements in Austria, the Bahamas, Bahrain, parts of Canada (Quebec and the Maritime provinces), China (Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Shanghai only; other locations have Starbucks as the controlling owner), Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Greece, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

Stores are now found in Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Republic of Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia Reuters - "Starbucks opens first coffee shop in Russia", 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, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Morocco and Poland. Yahoo! Finance - "Starbucks Plans to Expand Into Argentina." AmRest - "RB 23/2007 Joint Venture Agreements with Starbucks"

In March 1998, it opened its first store in Taiwan. January of 1999, it opened its first mainland China store in the capital city - Beijing. May of 2000, it opened its first Shanghai store at Huaihai road's Libao skyscraper. In the same month, the first branch in Hong Kong was opened. August of 2002, it opened its first store in Macau. So far, it has about 500 stores in Greater China. There are about 230 stores in mainland in 22 cities. In September 2005, Starbucks donated 500 million US dollars to start its "Starbucks Chinese educational program" to help improve the Chinese educational situation, especially the middle west poor areas. At the end of 2005, "Starbucks business management, Ltd" was established in Shanghai to manage the business in Greater China.

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. USPTO

Name The company is named in part after Starbuck (Moby-Dick), 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.

International names include:

Logo The logo is a "twin-tailed mermaid, or siren, or mixoparthenos as she's in Greek mythology".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, Washington, was reported as asking teachers to "cover up" the mermaid of the retro cups with a cup sleeve of some kind.

Parodies and infringements In 2000, San Francisco, California 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.

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.

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.

The DC Comics universe has a fictional coffee company called "SunDollers", which was originally based in Star City, but is now present in every city, like Gotham City and Metropolis.

On the TV Show Scrubs the hospital coffee shop known as "Coffeebucks" is a combination of the Coffee Bean and Starbucks.

Criticism and controversy 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 on 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".International Herald Tribune: Starbucks closes coffeehouse in Beijing's Forbidden CityCNN.com: Starbucks out of China's Forbidden CityBBC News: Forbidden City Starbucks closesFairfax Media: Protests shut Starbucks in Beijing's imperial palace

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.Klein, N. (2001). No Logo New York: Flamingo, pp. 135-140 For example, Starbucks fueled its initial expansion into the UK market with a buyout of its only major potential competitor (the 49 outlet 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.BBC News. (2004, June 9). Store Wars: Cappuccino Kings". Retrieved 2007-10-07.

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. According to a Starbucks Union press release, since then, the union membership has begun expanding to Chicago and Maryland.http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1151 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. New York Magazine NLRB Settlement New York Press 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,http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/1149 to protest the firing of five Starbucks Workers Union organizers by Starbucks and to demand their reinstatement.

Some Starbucks baristas in Canada, Vancouver Courier Australia and New Zealand, and the United States Crain's Chicago Business 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.

A Starbucks strike occurred in Auckland, New Zealand, on November 23, 2005. 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. National Business Review

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". In August 2006, a store in Vancouver de-unionized as the employees unanimously voted on the subject.

Retail market Starbucks has come to be regarded by some, particularly in the anti-globalization 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 World Trade Organization WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity. Although no organization claimed responsibility for the vandalism, the anarchism circle-A symbol was spray-painted on several stores. Edition.cnn.com URL last accessed July 3, 2006.

Coffee bean market In 2000, the company introduced a line of fair trade products Seattleweekly.com URL last accessed July 3, 2006.

Of the almost 300 million pounds of coffee Starbucks purchased in 2006, about 6 percent was certified as fair trade.{{cite web], 2006. Transfair USA, Transfair USA URL last accessed July 3, 2006 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:

{{bquote] 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, and many growers are unwilling or unable to pay for certification.

Ethos water controversy Ethos water, 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. NOW Magazine Maybe they're not trying to sell anything on World Water Day, but every other day of they year they are selling water. 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. Starbucks Corporation 2006 Annual Report 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.Walker, R. (2006, February 26). Consumed: Big Gulp. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2007-10-07

Other ventures 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. Apple Builds Ecosystem With iPod Touch Screen. (2007-09-05)

See also

References External links






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