The success story of Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain: first steps and first victories, exploring new territories and conquering the world, leaders and secrets of success.
Starbucks’ Story - First Steps
Three friends united by a love of coffee - writer Gordon Bowker, history and English teacher Zev Zigal and Jerry Baldwin, got the idea to create a common cause.
So in March 1971, a small shop appeared in Seattle, which sold high-quality coffee beans of their own roasting and equipment for its preparation. Thus opened the first and for a long time the only coffee house in the city. The owners were happy to talk about coffee to their few customers, instilling a love for this drink.
Since the creators of Starbucks are creative people, it’s not surprising that the name the company received is related to the hero of Herman Melville’s novel White Whale or Moby Dick. Starpom on a ship chasing a white whale was called Starbuck.
The first company logo - a two-tailed mermaid, drawn from an ancient engraving of the 16th century and surrounded by the name of the store, meant that coffee was brought to Starbucks from afar. True, the bare chest and the naked navel of the siren were perceived ambiguously. True, the logo changed several times, and with it the mermaid was transformed.
Starbucks - Secrets of Success
1. Awesome atmosphere
The main thing is not coffee
People love Starbucks not so much for good coffee, but for the special atmosphere that they managed to create and maintain throughout the history of the company. Preserving tradition is a matter of honor. In the interior of the first coffee house, almost nothing has changed, for which it is called the “Starbucks Museum”.
Music
In all cities, the same music plays simultaneously: if you enjoy a cup of your favorite drink in Milan, then visitors in New York, Seattle and other cities around the world hear the same tune at this moment.
Location of shops
It is important for the company that people who come to their places to drink coffee can enjoy the light of day, while the sun does not shine in their eyes. You will not find a single Starbucks coffee shop where the front door faces north. The entrance is always oriented either south or east.
2. Marketing Strategies
To promote the brand, marketers constantly come up with simple, but very curious tricks. One of them is a corrugated cardboard ring, which is worn on top of a paper cup so as not to burn your hands. And for a small surcharge, each client can get a reusable polyurethane ring with the Starbucks logo. This is not only an excellent competitive move, but also a concern for people and the environment.
Another “trick” is the famous Starbucks thermo mugs, which have been sold for several years in the famous coffee shop chain, as well as souvenir mugs and glasses that you can always buy on the network of establishments.
3. Enduring Principles
The secrets of the company’s success are caring for its employees (Starbucks is among the top 100 employers on the planet), loyalty to traditions, staff friendliness and open communication with visitors (they are not accepted by Starbucks who are not intractable, no matter how professional), uncompromising quality and thoughtful marketing moves. Fair trade, environmental protection, a working atmosphere in which friendliness and respect for each other, friendly service - these are the fundamental principles of the company that help it to attract and retain regular coffee connoisseurs. Recently, the company has been sending part of its profits to the fight against AIDS in Africa.
4. Rich Menu
Today in Starbucks coffee shops there are not only selected varieties of coffee, but also skillfully selected additional assortment - various syrups and teas, seasonal types of coffee, as well as some dishes: snacks, light salads and desserts. Bribes and flexibility in the menu. There can be thousands of coffee combinations in Starbucks, and each visitor has the opportunity to form drinks on their own, based on personal tastes and preferences.
5. Everlasting Ambition
Today Starbucks is the largest coffee shop chain in the world: more than 50 countries are open, about 18 thousand establishments operate around the world. The company employs more than 135 thousand people.
For Americans, Starbucks is something very native, like a second home, and for America itself - one of its main symbols. Today, expansion is going at a crazy pace. Local coffee shop networks are being created in different corners of the globe, new varieties of coffee are constantly appearing. The latest novelty is low-roast coffee with a milder taste than a drink made from well-roasted beans.
Since 2011, Starbucks branded coffee has entered retail sales. And on the shelves of stores appeared branded iced tea company, which is produced under the brand Tazo. Collaboration with other well-known corporations and the joint creation of innovative drinks, one of which, for example, consists of an extract of green coffee and natural fruit juice and is already sold in American stores, has allowed us to reach a new stage of development. There is no time for company management to rest: ambition does not allow.
Today Starbucks is the best brands of coffee and an excellent drink that is prepared by professionals from selected beans, a welcoming atmosphere that offers relaxation and pleasant communication, and something elusive, but very captivating - probably many years of experience in which the creators love for noble drink.