Why Is It Called Starbucks?

Question

Why Is It Called Starbucks?

Answer 1

named after the first mate in Moby d**k

Answer 2

Starbuck was a character in Herman Melville's novel Moby d**k, which as most people know, is about a whale. The lady in the Starbucks logo is meant to be a mermaid (a two-tailed one, in fact - she's holding up a tail in each hand), so it seems the founders were going for some sort of aquatic theme.

Which seems a bit bizarre for a coffee shop, if you think about it. If they were opening a seafood restaurant, I could understand it, but coffee and mermaids/whales? I don't see the connection there.

Answer 3

I don't know but the town i live we have a starbuck-lind mortuary!!

Answer 4

because the prices are so high you will need that they are reaching the stars.

Answer 5

It's named after the character in the book Moby d**k.

Answer 6

Well Im not so sure of history. I drink coffee a lot! It has higher quality and cost more getting the work "Bucks". My highest guess for "star" is for youll float from the delicious taste to the stars.

Short and sweet! Thats ME!

Answer 7

The original Starbucks was opened in Seattle, Washington in 1971 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, and Chicago, Illinois, that same year. At the time of its initial public offering on the stock market in 1992, Starbucks had grown to 165 outlets.



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,[5] a sign of Starbucks becoming an international brand.

In 1999, Starbucks experimented with eateries in the San Francisco Bay area through a restaurant chain called Circadia.[6] These restaurants were soon "outed" as Starbucks establishments and converted to Starbucks cafes.

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.[7][8]

Starbucks' chairman, Howard Schultz, has talked about making sure growth does not dilute the company's culture [9] and the common goal of the company's leadership to act like a small company.

In January 2008, Chairman Howard Schultz resumed his roles as President and Chief Executive Officer after an eight year hiatus, and replaced Jim Donald, who took those posts in 2005 but decided to leave the company in late 2007. Schultz's principal challenge is to restore what he calls the "distinctive Starbucks experience" in the face of rapid expansion. Analysts believe that Schultz must determine how to contend with higher materials prices and enhanced competition from lower-price fast food chains, including McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts.[10] On January 31, 2008, Schultz announced that Starbucks would discontinue its warm breakfast sandwich products, originally scheduled to launch nationwide in 2008, in order to refocus the brand on all things coffee.

As Starbucks often tests new products as part of its ongoing innovation and transformation, Starbucks started testing selling an 8 oz "short" brewed coffee for $1 and giving free refills on all brewed coffee. This test was limited to the greater Seattle market, with no plans for expansion to national markets. Per an internal email this program was cancelled in late March 2008. The normal price for a short brewed coffee at Starbucks is about $1.50, when Dunkin' Donuts 10 ounce coffee runs for $1.39 and McDonalds' 12 ounce premium coffee is $1.07. [11]

In March 2008, Schultz made several announcements to Starbucks shareholders. Shultz introduced Starbucks' "state of the art espresso system",,[12] the Thermoplan AG manufactured Mastrena, which will replace the Verismo 801. Starbucks also announced that the company hopes to enter the energy drink market and introduce a customer reward program. Pre-ground beans will also no longer be sold, in order that the additional grinding of all whole bean coffee will "bring aroma, romance and theater" to American stores. [13] The company also announced the recent acquisition of The Coffee Equipment Company,[14] the manufacturer of the Clover Brewing System. They are currently test marketing this unique "fresh-pressed" coffee system at six Starbucks locations, three in Seattle, and three in Boston.[15]