Starbucks
For other meanings of the name "Starbuck," see Starbuck
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX (http://quotes.nasdaq.com/asp/SummaryQuote.asp?symbol=SBUX&selected=SBUX)) is a giant multinational chain of coffee shops, often serving desserts, with a reputation in the US as a center for socializing and intellectual discussion, particularly among students and young urban professionals. Corporate headquarters are in Seattle, Washington. The company was named after Starbuck, a character in Moby Dick, and their mascot is a stylized cartoon melusine.
The first Starbucks opened in Seattle in 1971, at its still-operating location across from Pike Place Market. Entrepreneur Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982 and started the Il Giornale coffee bar chain in 1985, whose outlets were rebranded as Starbucks in 1987 when Il Giornale bought the existing Starbucks stores from the original owners, who held on to the Peet's chain that Starbucks had merged with a few years earlier. Starbucks also opened its first locations in Vancouver, British Columbia (at Waterfront Station) and Chicago, Illinois in 1987.
By the time of its initial public offering on the stock market in 1992, it had grown to 165 outlets. In April 2003 Starbucks added 150 new outlets in one day, by completing the purchase of Seattle's Best Coffee and Torrefazione Italia from AFC Enterprises. As of May 2003, Starbucks operated more than 6,400 locations worldwide. Stung by criticism of the conditions in which its coffee was grown, the company introduced a line of fair trade products; although the majority of its sales are not certified fair trade, Starbucks pays its producers some of the highest rates per pound in the world. Starbucks is also known for providing even part-time employees with healthcare benefits and stock options.
Starbucks' success in the US market has not always been replicated around the world, as it has faced stiff competition in locations where existing coffee shops and restaurants already serve a variety of high-quality coffees, and from a number of retailers which emulate Starbucks' business model (often adding a local twist).
This rapid proliferation of the company has been the subject of much comment and occasional parody, for instance in the Austin Powers films, The Simpsons and South Park.
T-Mobile provides Starbucks with "pay for play" Wi-Fi "hotspots."
See also: Coffee house
Labor disputes
On May 17, 2004, Starbucks' workers at the 36th and Madison store in Midtown Manhattan organized the first Starbucks Baristas' union in the United States of America. The 12 workers, working in tandem with the Industrial Workers of the World IU/660 submitted union cards to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a certification election. The baristas complain that a starting wage of $7.75 an hour is not a living wage in New York City and that Starbucks refuses to guarantee regularity of hours per week, which leads to extreme precarity.
On July 22, 2004, the Retail Workers' Union IU/660 filed an unfair labor practice charge against Starbucks for allegedly making threats of wage cuts, giving bribes, and selectively enforcing no-distribution policies to alter the results of the barista's union vote.
IU/660 has also joined with Global Exchange in calling on Starbucks to purchase 5% of the store's coffee from fair trade certified sources. Currently only 1% of Starbucks' coffee is fair trade.
Starbucks has attempted to block the formation of the union, arguing that workers at a single chain store cannot unionize independent of the entire chain. After initially rejecting this claim, the NLRB agreed to review the case on July 28th 2004, effectively stalling the certification process for at least a year.
Starbucks' logo
The melusine (two-tailed mermaid) in the Starbucks' logo changed over the years due to political reasons. In the first version she had naked breasts. In the second, streamlined version, they were covered by hair, but the bellybutton was still visible. In the latest version, as shown here, the bellybutton is not visible anymore. See also: The Mermaid (http://www.endicott-studio.com/jMA03Summer/theMermaid.html)
External links
- Official website (http://www.starbucks.com)
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