Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Of Starbucks

2465 Words10 Pages
Starbucks was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker as a roaster and retailer of whole bean and ground coffee, tea and spices with a single store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. In 1980 Zev Siegl sold out to pursue other ventures. By that time Starbucks was the largest roaster in Washington with six retail outlets (Anonymous, 2010). In 1981 the small coffee company caught the attention of Howard Schultz who joined Starbucks as director of retail operations and marketing. It was Howard’s concept to create a coffee house type “culture” based on the Italian model of espresso bars. He convinced the founders of Starbucks to test the coffeehouse concept in 1984 in downtown Seattle, where the first Starbucks Caffè Latte was served (Company, Starbucks Basic Timeline, 2010). From there, Starbucks began its initial growth outside of the Seattle area with the opening of stores in Chicago and Vancouver British Columbia followed by the opening of the first store outside North America in Japan in 1996, leading to its current status with over 16,000 stores in over 50 countries. Along the way, Starbucks created numerous opportunities for success starting with its offer of full health benefits to full- and part-time employees and then becoming the first privately owned U.S. company to offer a stock option program that includes part-time employees followed by an initial public offering (IPO), with common stock being traded on the Nasdaq National Market (Company, Starbucks Basic Timeline, 2010). It has also expanded into other markets besides the coffee shop offerings with its joint venture with Pepsi-Cola North America to sell the bottled Frappuccino coffee drink, its purchase of Tazo Tea and Coffee Equipment Company and the Clover Brewing System and the creation of the VIA Ready Brew coffee . Finally Starbucks has created a world-friendly

More about Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Of Starbucks

Open Document