Starbucks Corporation is a Seattle, Washington based coffee company. Its main core business is to roast and sell whole bean coffee and coffee drinks through its retail outlets spread across USA and other major developed countries in Europe, Middle East and Asia. Schultz started the company in 1985, named Giornale. He got the business concept of retail coffee bars, while on a visit to Italy. He found Italians were adherent coffee lovers and loved to relax and discuss in coffee bars. He felt Americans would also prefer a premium cup of coffee if offered in a relaxing environment and spend some time in the coffee bars. America was one of the largest consumers of coffee in the world after Italy, Germany and Japan. His idea did not find much acceptance among his partners in Starbucks Corporation, where he was working as VP marketing. Starbucks Corporation was established in 1971 in Seattle, and was mainly in the business of selling roast bean coffee. Majority of the coffee sellers in America were selling the cheap quality coffee unlike the premium and expensive roast bean coffee sold in Italy and Japan. Schultz was of the opinion that Americans would pay for a premium cup of coffee if offered in the right environment. As his partners did not support his idea, he went ahead and established his own first coffee house in 1985. Quickly the concept of premium coffee sold through retail outlets or coffee bars caught the imagination of consumers and the demand quickly grew. Schultz to protect the concept being copied rapidly expanded the number of his retail outlets. By end of 1993, he had opened 100 outlets, through out USA. In 1987, the owners of Starbucks sold the firm for 4 million and thus he acquired the name of Starbucks coffee for his retail outlets. In addition he acquired Coffee connection, a 25 store Boston chain in 1994. In 1992 Starbucks went public and the share was quoted at $17 a share. As on 1996 Starbucks employed approxi...