The History of Starbucks – by Gaby J.

Who doesn’t like Starbucks? Starbucks has great coffee, frappuccinos, tea, and a great history. In 1971, Jerry Baldwin, Zeu Siegl and Gordan Bowker, founded Starbucks in Seattle, Washington. At first, Starbucks only sold coffee beans and coffee making equipment. Ten years later Howard Schultz was hired as Director of Retail Operations. Howard thought that they should be selling drinks instead of beans and machines, however, he couldn’t convince the owners so he went on his own and started the II Giornale chain of coffee bars. The following year, Baldwin and the others sold Starbucks to Schultz and renamed the II Giornale to Starbucks. Starbucks started expanding due to them buying many companies such as Peet’s and Seattle’s Best Coffee. In the 1990s Starbucks was offering stock to employees and went public. Today, Starbucks has expanded to more than 17,000 stores in 55 countries around the world. “The name (Starbucks) comes from Captain Ahab’s first mate in the classic novel Moby Dick, who was named Starbuck,” read coffee.org. The original logo was a siren (two-tailed mermaid) with bare breasts. Over the years, it has been touched up and now the siren’s hair is covering her body.

Recently, my Safety Harbor Young Reporters Club went to the Starbucks on Main Street to interview the very sweet employees Alyssa Cartiglia and Jeremy Beitz. I learned that all the employees must learn all the recipes by heart. I also learned that the Starbucks on Main Street has been around for about ten years. Alyssa said, “I drink black iced coffee” and, “ I like making regular brewed coffee.” Before we left, Jeremy gave us each a mini Double Chocolaty Chip frappuccino for free! Thank you, Alyssa and Jeremy, for taking time to answer our questions. In conclusion, Starbucks not only has great drinks, employees, and customers, but they also have a great history.