ABOUT US

Our story began in 1971 along the cobblestone streets of Seattle's historic Pike Place Market. This was where Starbucks opened its first store, offering freshly roasted coffee beans, teas, and spices from around the world for customers to take home. Our name was inspired by the classic tale "Moby Dick," which evokes the seafaring traditions of early coffee traders.

Ten years later, a young New Yorker named Howard Schultz walked through these doors and was captivated by Starbucks coffee from his first sip. After joining the company in 1982, a different cobblestone path led him to another discovery. On a trip to Milan in 1983, Howard experienced Italy's coffee shops for the first time, and he returned to Seattle inspired to bring the warmth and artistry of that coffee culture to Starbucks. By 1987, we had traded our brown aprons for green ones and embarked on the next chapter of our coffee shop life.

Starbucks quickly expanded to Chicago and Vancouver in Canada, then to California, Washington, D.C., and New York. By 1996, we had crossed the Pacific to open our first store in Japan, followed by Europe in 1998 and China in 1999. Over the next two decades, our business has grown to welcome millions of customers each week and become part of the fabric of tens of thousands of neighborhoods around the world. In everything we do, we are always dedicated to our mission: with every cup, with every conversation, with every community—fueling the infinite possibilities of human connection.