There are more than 13,100 Starbucks stores in the world, spanning 40 countries. The stores all sell drip coffee, espresso drinks, tea, blended drinks, coffee mugs and other coffee accessories. Interestingly enough, the prices found at Starbucks Coffee are significantly higher than the market average. The higher prices are a direct result of their ingenious marketing strategy.
Moving beyond beverages and coffee mugs and makers, Starbucks has started an entertainment division that features the Hear Music brand. Selling books, music and film, the brand is developing into something much larger than a Venti Frappucino.
Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1971, Starbucks Coffee began growing exponentially. During the 1990s, a new Starbucks store was opening somewhere in the world every single working day. This continued into the new millennium, however domestic growth has since slowed down quite a bit. Abroad, however, the brand is still expanding rapidly.
Starbucks Coffeehouses began to give consumers a different kind of feeling about drinking coffee. Even employees, called partners, get a different kind of experience than one a regular barista would expect. Between two and six partners are working at any given time.
Coffee Masters are partners that have gone through extensive training in tasting, roasting, purchasing and growing regions. Starbucks Coffee offers full benefits to partners, including vision, health and dental insurance. Stock option grands are also available, as is 401k with matching to employees who work 20 hours a week or more. In 2005, Starbucks was rated the 11th best place to work in the United States by Fortune magazine. The same can be said of the UK stores, which were voted among the top ten best places to work by the Financial Times in 2007.
