History

Starbucks was founded on March 31, 1971, in Seattle Washington by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel, and Gordon Bowker. The inspiration for the name cam from a character in a Herman Melville novel , "Moby-Dick. The original concept was to create a unique coffee shop with a unique experience where high quality beans and offering a diverse range of coffee. The company first opened in Seattle's historic Pike Place Market, which focused on selling high quality roasted coffee beans, teas, and spices. 

In the early yers of Starbucks, it was opened primarily as a coffee bean retailer rather than a coffee house like it is now. The original founders were insprired by Alfred Peet's Coffee, who was the one to introduce them to the high quality coffee beans and roasting techniques. In 1982, Howard shulz join the company as the director of operations and marketing and introduced the concept of espresso bars which then caused the company to transition to the now coffeehouse.