Starbuck's

“We desperately need to look into the mirror and realize it’s time to get back to the core” says Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks Corporation who is considered responsible for building the company into the coffee empire it is today. He is referring to “the dilution” of the Starbucks experience and the “commoditization of the brand”. Starbucks is a Seattle based company whom Mr. Schultz joined in 1982. He envisioned expanding the niche brewer of strong coffee beyond the Pacific Northwest by bringing the romance of Italian coffee bars and their espresso to Starbucks so that it would be an enticing gathering place. This concept took off and resulted in steady sales and earnings growth that have made the company’s shares soar since it went public in 1992. Mr. Schultz’s vision took a niche coffee brand and evolved it into an established market leader. This was performed by providing high quality coffee into an atmosphere that allowed people to drink and enjoy their coffee for an unlimited amount of time in the store. In the store the barista’s would grind the coffee, pull the espresso shots by hand creating a “romance and theatre” atmosphere to a customers visit. Starbucks has been described as “having a more homely feel with dim lighting and soothing music playing in the background to make you feel good. I always feel the atmosphere at Starbucks is better than Dunkin Donuts” (Reference 1) Since that initial vision Starbucks has grown exponentially and its goal is to become one of the worlds most recognized brands. Currently it has 13,000 locations but it’s goal is to have 40,000 locations around the globe. Starbuck’s stock has continually risen until last year when shares fell by 9%. It is felt that in the process of keeping up with pace of growth and efficiency in order to serve the many customers that visit a Starbucks site on a daily basis, the company has unintentionally watered down the Starbucks experience. Currently at Starbucks they use automatic