Starbucks Coffee Company is North America's leading roaster and retailer of specialty coffees. Headquartered in Seattle, WA, Starbucks has 931 retails stores and 75 major airport locations. The Company's objective is to establish Starbucks as the most recognized and respected brand of coffee in the world. To achieve this goal, the Company will continue to rapidly expand its retail operations, grow its mail order and specialty sales operations, and selectively pursue other opportunities to leverage and grow the Starbucks brand through the introduction of new products and the development of new distribution channels. .
Employees are one of the most important resources to Starbucks. If the company is to prosper, the employees must be treated well. All employees are eligible for Starbucks' health care and benefits package, as well as a starting wage above the minimum. Starbucks' strong commitment to the environment is guided by an environment committee. The Company endeavors to offer an environmentally safe product, as it believes that the welfare of people, plant and product are linked. Starbucks prides itself on being a "good citizen" locally and in the various coffee producing countries. They make significant contributions to local charities that focus on children, the environment, the homeless, and AIDS research/support. .
Financially, Starbucks has had solid earnings and returns. While still in the fast-growth stage, the Company has managed to continue healthy operations while generating enough public funds to finance store expansion. The company is expanding its empire overseas. Japan was Starbucks' first expansion outside of North America. Starbucks also plans to open coffee bars in Singapore. .
Although Starbucks expects same-store sales, which showed 20% increases in the past five years, to fall, overseas expansion and joint ventures promise to be major growth areas for Starbucks. Despite this potential problem, Starbucks remains excited about future growth and continues to be hopeful about the future.