Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington.
Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world,[2] with 17,009 stores in 50 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1000 in Canada, and over 700 in the UK.[1][3]
Starbucks sells drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold drinks, coffee beans, salads, hot and cold sandwiches and panini, pastries, snacks, and items such as mugs and tumblers.
Through the Starbucks Entertainment division and Hear Music brand, the company also markets books, music, and film. Many of the company's products are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Starbucks-brand ice cream and coffee are also offered at grocery stores.
From Starbucks' founding in later
Starbucks is Pleasing Employees and Pouring Profits
Caffeine addicts aren't the only fans of Starbucks, a corporate legend that serves up warm fuzzies with its cold frappuccinos. The company's rich benefit blend keeps turnover low and employee satisfaction high. And that's here’s something comforting and classy about Starbucks. It’s not just the enticing aromas and blues tunes wafting through the air, the handsome surroundings or the likelihood of running into a friend or neighbor. It’s more the way the baristas (never called "counter help") greet people, perhaps offering a blueberry scone sample, or remembering a customer’s preference for nonfat soy latte with extra foam.
Starbucks attracts a near-cult following, serving 25 million drinks a week at nearly 7,000 locations worldwide. In a four-week period ending in August, the company--which is growing by three to four stores a day--reported net revenues of $335 million, an increase of 26 percent over the same period last year. The Seattle-based coffee empire was among the top 10 on Fortune’s most recent "America’s Most Admired Companies" list. The magazine also rated it the most admired food-services company in 2001 and 2002. Business Week named founder Howard Schultz one of the country’s top 25 managers in 2001.
Since Starbucks began with a single store in 1971, its overriding philosophy has been this: "Leave no one behind." With that in mind, new employees get 24 hours of in-store training, steeping themselves in information about coffee and how to meet, greet and serve customers. Full health-care benefits (medical, dental, vision and alternative services) are offered to all employees, including part-timers who work at least 240 hours per calendar quarter. The EAP is available to all employees. Employees share in the company’s growth via "Bean Stock" (stock options) of up to 14 percent of their gross pay, and a stock-investment plan allows them to buy shares of Starbucks common stock at a discount (85 percent of fair market value) through payroll deductions. The company also matches employees’ contributions to their "Future Roast" 401(k) plans, adding from 25 to 150 percent of the first 4 percent of pay, depending on length of service.
As a result of such measures, Starbucks employees have an 82 percent job-satisfaction rate, according to a Hewitt Associates Starbucks Partner View Survey. This compares to a 50 percent satisfaction rate for all employers and 74 percent for Hewitt’s "Best Place to Work" employers. Though the company won’t release specific numbers, it also claims that its turnover is lower than that of most fast-food establishments. But it’s not just the benefits that attract employees. Another company survey found that the top two reasons why people work for Starbucks are "the opportunity to work with an enthusiastic team" and "to work in a place where I feel I have value."
Omollo Gaya, who grew up on a coffee farm in Kenya and immigrated to San Diego to attend college, was drawn inside a Starbucks store seven years ago by the heady aroma. He bought a pound of coffee, struck up a conversation with the employee behind the counter, and was impressed by the barista’s knowledge. As he sipped his brew, "something clicked," Gaya says. After researching Starbucks, he applied for a job and spent the next four years in a San Diego store before being promoted to his current position as one of eight coffee tasters at company headquarters. After six years, Gaya exercised his Bean Stock options, which netted about $25,000 after payment of the exercise price, to build a new four-bedroom house for his widowed mother on 15 acres in her home village.
"The health benefits, the 401(k) and the stock options really surprised me, and confirmed what this company is all about," Gaya says. "From my first day on the job, I got a lot of satisfaction when I offered a cup of coffee to customers and saw the smile on their faces, when I answered their questions about coffee, and when I saw their enthusiasm when they returned with a friend or colleague. My love for coffee started when I was 5 years old, but I never thought it would come to mean so much to me. Buying a home for my mother is the highlight of my being with Starbucks."
Maintaining that kind of feel-good atmosphere in a small mom-and-pop company is one thing. The question is how Starbucks manages to keep the spirit flowing with 11,000 full-time and 60,000 part-time employees in North America, and an additional 7,400 workers globally. "Staying ‘small’ while we grow is one of our biggest challenges," says Dave Pace, executive vice president of partner resources (the company’s term for human resources). "It sounds clichéd, but we do it by taking our mission statement seriously. Almost all companies have a mission, but at Starbucks, we use it as our guiding principle and hold it up as a filter for decision-making."
Providing a great work environment and treating employees with respect is number one on Starbucks’ six-point mission statement. The list also includes a commitment to diversity; excellence in purchasing, roasting and delivering coffee; keeping customers satisfied; contributing to communities and the environment; and, of course, achieving profitability.forms in Seattle as a local coffee bean roaster and retailer, the company has expanded rapidly. In the 1990s, Starbucks was opening a new store every workday, a pace that continued into the 2000s. The first store outside the United States or Canada opened in the mid-'90s, and overseas stores now constitute almost one third of Starbucks' stores.[4] The company planned to open a net of 900 new stores outside of the United States in 2009,[5] but has announced 900 store closures in the United States since 2008.
Starbucks has been a target of protests on issues such as fair-trade policies, labor relations, environmental impact, political views, and anti-competitive practices.
Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world,[2] with 17,009 stores in 50 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1000 in Canada, and over 700 in the UK.[1][3]
Starbucks sells drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold drinks, coffee beans, salads, hot and cold sandwiches and panini, pastries, snacks, and items such as mugs and tumblers.
Through the Starbucks Entertainment division and Hear Music brand, the company also markets books, music, and film. Many of the company's products are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Starbucks-brand ice cream and coffee are also offered at grocery stores.
From Starbucks' founding in later
Starbucks is Pleasing Employees and Pouring Profits
Caffeine addicts aren't the only fans of Starbucks, a corporate legend that serves up warm fuzzies with its cold frappuccinos. The company's rich benefit blend keeps turnover low and employee satisfaction high. And that's here’s something comforting and classy about Starbucks. It’s not just the enticing aromas and blues tunes wafting through the air, the handsome surroundings or the likelihood of running into a friend or neighbor. It’s more the way the baristas (never called "counter help") greet people, perhaps offering a blueberry scone sample, or remembering a customer’s preference for nonfat soy latte with extra foam.
Starbucks attracts a near-cult following, serving 25 million drinks a week at nearly 7,000 locations worldwide. In a four-week period ending in August, the company--which is growing by three to four stores a day--reported net revenues of $335 million, an increase of 26 percent over the same period last year. The Seattle-based coffee empire was among the top 10 on Fortune’s most recent "America’s Most Admired Companies" list. The magazine also rated it the most admired food-services company in 2001 and 2002. Business Week named founder Howard Schultz one of the country’s top 25 managers in 2001.
Since Starbucks began with a single store in 1971, its overriding philosophy has been this: "Leave no one behind." With that in mind, new employees get 24 hours of in-store training, steeping themselves in information about coffee and how to meet, greet and serve customers. Full health-care benefits (medical, dental, vision and alternative services) are offered to all employees, including part-timers who work at least 240 hours per calendar quarter. The EAP is available to all employees. Employees share in the company’s growth via "Bean Stock" (stock options) of up to 14 percent of their gross pay, and a stock-investment plan allows them to buy shares of Starbucks common stock at a discount (85 percent of fair market value) through payroll deductions. The company also matches employees’ contributions to their "Future Roast" 401(k) plans, adding from 25 to 150 percent of the first 4 percent of pay, depending on length of service.
As a result of such measures, Starbucks employees have an 82 percent job-satisfaction rate, according to a Hewitt Associates Starbucks Partner View Survey. This compares to a 50 percent satisfaction rate for all employers and 74 percent for Hewitt’s "Best Place to Work" employers. Though the company won’t release specific numbers, it also claims that its turnover is lower than that of most fast-food establishments. But it’s not just the benefits that attract employees. Another company survey found that the top two reasons why people work for Starbucks are "the opportunity to work with an enthusiastic team" and "to work in a place where I feel I have value."
Omollo Gaya, who grew up on a coffee farm in Kenya and immigrated to San Diego to attend college, was drawn inside a Starbucks store seven years ago by the heady aroma. He bought a pound of coffee, struck up a conversation with the employee behind the counter, and was impressed by the barista’s knowledge. As he sipped his brew, "something clicked," Gaya says. After researching Starbucks, he applied for a job and spent the next four years in a San Diego store before being promoted to his current position as one of eight coffee tasters at company headquarters. After six years, Gaya exercised his Bean Stock options, which netted about $25,000 after payment of the exercise price, to build a new four-bedroom house for his widowed mother on 15 acres in her home village.
"The health benefits, the 401(k) and the stock options really surprised me, and confirmed what this company is all about," Gaya says. "From my first day on the job, I got a lot of satisfaction when I offered a cup of coffee to customers and saw the smile on their faces, when I answered their questions about coffee, and when I saw their enthusiasm when they returned with a friend or colleague. My love for coffee started when I was 5 years old, but I never thought it would come to mean so much to me. Buying a home for my mother is the highlight of my being with Starbucks."
Maintaining that kind of feel-good atmosphere in a small mom-and-pop company is one thing. The question is how Starbucks manages to keep the spirit flowing with 11,000 full-time and 60,000 part-time employees in North America, and an additional 7,400 workers globally. "Staying ‘small’ while we grow is one of our biggest challenges," says Dave Pace, executive vice president of partner resources (the company’s term for human resources). "It sounds clichéd, but we do it by taking our mission statement seriously. Almost all companies have a mission, but at Starbucks, we use it as our guiding principle and hold it up as a filter for decision-making."
Providing a great work environment and treating employees with respect is number one on Starbucks’ six-point mission statement. The list also includes a commitment to diversity; excellence in purchasing, roasting and delivering coffee; keeping customers satisfied; contributing to communities and the environment; and, of course, achieving profitability.forms in Seattle as a local coffee bean roaster and retailer, the company has expanded rapidly. In the 1990s, Starbucks was opening a new store every workday, a pace that continued into the 2000s. The first store outside the United States or Canada opened in the mid-'90s, and overseas stores now constitute almost one third of Starbucks' stores.[4] The company planned to open a net of 900 new stores outside of the United States in 2009,[5] but has announced 900 store closures in the United States since 2008.
Starbucks has been a target of protests on issues such as fair-trade policies, labor relations, environmental impact, political views, and anti-competitive practices.