Starbucks
History
Starbucks Coffee Company (Starbucks) was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. At the time, the concept of selling coffee drinks and fresh-roasted whole beans in a specialty store was revolutionary. Howard Shultz and David Olsen purchased Starbucks in 1987 for $3.8 million. By 2004, Starbucks has grown to more than eight thousand locations worldwide.
Strategy
Starbucks strategy is that they are absolutely dedicated to brewing the finest coffee in the world, while maintaining their incentives to grow. Starbucks believes that in order to build respect and confident with customers, they must build respect and confidence with the employees first. The company is not only about coffee, but also about the experience created in the stores and in the company. Also, Starbucks persists to be profitable and it is. They live by a strict, slow growth policy completely dominating a market before setting its sights further abroad.
As a supplement tot the growth provided by new outlets, Starbucks tried out new concepts in their store but the management felt that it took away from their core business. In 1994, Starbucks introduced a drink called Frappuccino, a cold coffee drink. Through a joint venture with Pepsi, a grocery-store version was marketed.
International expansion to Japan and the UK
As Starbucks was reaching the point of saturation in North America, the firm set its sights on overseas expansion. In 1996, Starbucks opened its first Japanese store (a joint venture with Sazabu) in Tokyo’s Ginza district. Almost immediately, Starbucks enjoyed huge success in Japan. By 2003, more than five hundred stores were operating as joint ventures in Japan. A large portion of its international business is in Asia, and Starbucks plans to continue expanding its presence throughout Asia.
Starbucks’ experience in Britain was quite different. In 1998, Starbucks Coffee International acquired a local chain called Seattle Coffee Company. From...