Starbucks Coffee Company

In 1971 the three got some money together, found retail space on Western Avenue near the Pike Market, and wondered about a name for their store.

In 1971 the three got some money together, found retail space on Western Avenue near the Pike Market, and wondered about a name for their store. Brainstorming one day at Heckler Bowker advertising, Terry Heckler suggested that words beginning with "st" had extra oomph; later Bowker noticed a place called "Starbo" on an old Washington map. That's all it took for writer Bowker to think "Starbuck," first mate from the epic sea story Moby-Dick. After briefly considering a few other non-"st" names—including "Cargo House" and "Pequod"—the company was christened "Starbucks". Heckler adapted a two-tailed bare-breasted mermaid from an old engraving as its logo—who can still be seen in her full glory at the "original" store, since moved to 1912 Pike Place. (The mermaid morphed to assume a more modest look in 1992 when the company went public.)

If you're picturing a place with a hip urban vibe, friendly baristas, espresso drinks in multiple sizes, and plenty of room to plop down and spend an hour or two or three, hold that thought. It comes later—13 years later. In the meantime the new store caught on and in five years there were four more, all selling beans of various roasts and provenance, plus tea, spices, and coffee-making paraphernalia. There were no chairs and no refreshments, though customers could sip free samples of brewed coffee prior to selecting beans.

Fast-forward to 1982: 29-year-old Howard Schultz, general manager of a coffee filter vendor and attracted to the craft coffee movement percolating in Seattle, comes aboard as Starbucks' first head of retail operations. The game and the players were about to change. On a trip to Milan in 1983, Schultz was charmed by Italian espresso and the ambience of the bars and cafes where it was served. He returned home with an inspiration for Starbucks' future.

In 1984 Starbucks served its first latte in its new downtown Seattle "concept” store, opened to test the viability of Schultz's vision for an American espresso bar. Seattleites quickly embraced the new establishment with the familiar name, but not everyone was happy: owners Baldwin, Siegl, and Bowker preferred the original vision, coffee beans. With his concept proven, in 1985 Schultz decided to leave Starbucks and develop it under a new name, Il Giornale (after a Milano newspaper). But two years later in August of 1987, with the backing of local investors, Schultz bought out the three Starbucks founders, re-named and re-fitted his Il Giornale stores as Starbucks, and took the helm of the combined 17-store operation. From this time on the Starbucks story would be Howard Schultz's story. (Baldwin, Siegl, and Bowker managed to continue on with the store concept they preferred, having purchased Peet's in 1984.)

In 2017, thirty years, and more than 24,000 stores later, the company will open its doors in Milan, Italy, where Schultz's inspiration for Starbucks was born. Will that store work? Can Schultz really "sell ice to Eskimos"? Time will tell. It will also tell whether his concept of the intimate neighborhood espresso cafe can continue to coexist within a 19 billion-dollar global retail organization. So far, nobody has lost money betting on Howard Schultz.