Starbucks, founded in 1971, has been dominating the coffee industry since its rise to popularity, but the java giant brews more than just beans. Controversy has surrounded this “morning drink Megatron” that boasts 16,700 locations in 50 countries. In Manhattan, 68 of the Big Apple’s core 128 stores are within two blocks of another Starbucks. In Charleston, even with the Calhoun Street location closing, we have three stores in a two-block radius, and two of those are on the same street. With this kind of saturation, they mostly compete with themselves.
There are two types of people: those who love Starbucks and those who love to hate the plastic cup passing monster. What most do not know, however, is that this big brew boss did not originally sell cups by the thousands. The corporate behemoth has roots in the bean business. Selling only beans and industrial coffee making equipment, it was not until 11 years after they opened their first store that Starbucks started providing their coffee to fine restaurants and espresso bars.
Cities with strong local loyalties like Charleston tend to speak of big corporate mammoths with dismay, although that does not keep us from frequenting them. We see these companies as heartless, but Starbucks was actually the first privately owned U.S. company to offer stock option programs that include part-time employees.
