Concept
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. the company had 33,833 stores in 80 countries, 15,444 of which were located in the United States. Out of Starbucks' U.S.-based stores, over 8,900 are company-operated, while the remainder are licensed. The rise of the second wave of coffee culture is generally attributed to Starbucks, which introduced a wider variety of coffee experiences. Starbucks serves hot and cold drinks, whole-bean coffee, micro-ground instant coffee, espresso, caffe latte, full and loose-leaf teas, juices, Frappuccino beverages, pastries, and snacks. Some offerings are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Depending on the country, most locations provide free Wi-Fi Internet access. Starbucks was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker at Seattle's Pike Place Market. During the early 1980s, they sold the company to Howard Schultz who—after a business trip to Milan, Italy—decided to convert the coffee bean store into a coffee shop serving espresso-based drinks. As chief executive officer from 1986 to 2000, Schultz's first tenure led to an aggressive expansion of the franchise, first in Seattle, then across the West Coast of the United States. Schultz was succeeded by Orin Smith who ran the company for five years and positioned Starbucks as a large player in fair trade coffee, increasing sales to US $5 billion. Jim Donald served as chief executive officer from 2005 to 2008, orchestrating a large-scale earnings expansion. Schultz returned as CEO during the financial crisis of 2007–08 and spent the succeeding decade growing the company's market share, expanding its offerings, and reorienting the brand around corporate social responsibility. Kevin Johnson succeeded Schultz as CEO in 2017. In March 2022, Starbucks announced that Schultz would return as CEO in April 2022 in an interim role.
