Starbucks Company is a widely known coffee shop that sells premium coffee products. It was first the vision of Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel, and Gordon Bowker, but the unrelenting urges of Howard Schultz caused it to become the world's leading coffee shop. There are currently 6,294 Starbucks throughout the world selling a variety of products from muffins and cookies to frappuccinos and ice cream.
General Entrepreneur Information:.
Howard Schultz was born in 1952 and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He went to Northern Michigan University on a football scholarship. After graduating college he worked a variety of jobs until becoming the manager of U.S. operations at Hammarplast, a maker of stylish kitchen equipment and house wares. In 1981 Schultz became the vice president at Hammarplast. He noticed that a small business in Washington was ordering a large number of a special type of coffee maker. His curiosity led him to Starbucks to meet Baldwin, Siegel, and Bowker. He instantly fell in love with the small coffee shop, and in 1982 was hired to head Starbucks marketing and oversee the four Seattle stores. Between 1987 and 1992 Schultz opened 150 new Starbucks stores. Schultz gives comprehensive health coverage to all workers who work over twenty hours a week. He also introduced an employee stock option plan, which led to an extremely low worker turnover. Although the company began to drastically expand, Schultz always insisted that his goal was "to serve a great cup of coffee and to build a company with soul." Schultz now owns his own basketball team, the Seattle Supersonics.
General Company Information:.
Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice, as it was first known roasted its first coffee in 1971. The small coffee house in Seattle, Washington was the vision of Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel, and Gordon Bowker. They had a determination to provide the best quality coffee, and a decade later Starbucks opened a fourth store in Seattle.