Some thoughts just came to my mind today as I walked down the pavement in freezing cold wind after uni, late at night, none of the shops are open. A cup of hot drink, that's all I'm needed. Starbucks, Gloria Jeans, Max Brenner, are the list of places that pop out of my mind.
Well, it has become a household name. It is now a multinational conglomerate with annual revenue in excess of $14 billion with a history of just over 43 years.
Like any other businesses, it was started as a high quality coffee bean and equipment selling business by three students of University of San Francisco.
Named after a whaling ship's chief mate, Starbucks now boosts stores in 64 countries, according to Wikipedia, 13,279 in the United States, 1,324 in Canada, 989 in Japan, 851 in China and 806 in the United Kingdom.
Starbucks has well integrated into many of the local cultures, especially in China where I come from, it has also become a household name amongst the educated middle class throughout the nation, despite main differences between the eastern and western way of having hot beverages.
Here in Australia, Starbucks also finds itself sitting comfortably in the market.
References:
Wikipedia 2014, Starbucks, viewed 5 May 2014, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks>.
By Zhutian Cai
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