Lysons and Farrington (2006) propose that at least three drivers have Essay

Lysons and Farrington (2006) propose that at least three drivers have influenced, and are influencing changes to the purchasing - Essay Example It had firmly developed itself as the dominant coffee brand, coffee retailer and coffee bean roaster in North America. It owned more than 1,500 stores in the Pacific Rim and North America and opened new stores at the rate of more than one store per day. The closest competitor of the company had as fewer as 300 retail stores. Since launching its IPO in 1992, the company has seen an increase of nine fold in its stock price (Starbucks Corporation, n.d.). Introduction Originally, Starbucks was formed by three academics – in 1971. They were Zev Siegel, Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. The founders of Starbucks opened the first store in Seattle to which they called as â€Å"Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice†. Slowly and gradually, the company began to pave the ways of growth and by the early 1980s, the company had a plant for roasting coffee beans and four retail stores, which sold whole-bean coffee. Ever since it started trading, Starbucks has been very lucrative (Starbucks Co rporation, n.d.). In March 1987, Gordon Bowker and Jerry Baldwin decided to sell entire operations of Starbucks in Seattle, including the roasting plant, the retail stores and the brand name, Starbucks. Howard Schultz raised capital and instantly bought the company. The new name of the company was Starbucks Corporation. Howard Schultz became the CEO and president of the company when he was 34 years old. In his first few years, Schultz spent most of his time in four Seattle stores – tasting different kinds of coffee, working behind counters, getting to know the personnel, talking with customers and educating himself regarding different aspects of coffee business. Schultz was abundant with ideas for developing and improving the company. Early on, Schultz observed that customers feel uneasy in stores due to their lack of knowledge regarding fine coffee and because store personnel get little arrogant sometimes. In order to resolve these issues, Schultz worked with employees to cu ltivate customer friendly sales skills and developed brochures to make it easier for customers to learn pertaining to fine coffee (Starbucks Corporation, n.d.). The specialty coffee industry began to grow dramatically between the period of 1980s and 1990s. A large number of experts believed that differentiated coffee reinforced by specialty coffee industry would continue to upsurge much faster than traditional coffees. However, the meaning of specialty continued to be refined in United States (Starbucks Corporation, n.d.). In 1991, the company ventured into the licensed airport stores, mail-order catalogue business, expanded to California and has more than 100 stores. In 1992, the company went publicized. By 2005, the company had more than 10,200 licensed and company operated stores in more than 35 countries. The retail stores of Starbucks offered food items, coffee drinks, beans, tea, coffee accessories and music. Starbucks Corporation owned over 5,200 stores in 10 countries, 80% o f which were located in America, primarily in the areas such as airports and shopping centers whereas licensed stores were over 2,800 in 28 countries. In addition to that, Starbucks marketed coffee through local grocery stores and registered its brand for other beverage and food items. The most recent statistics from January 2, 2011 showed the total count of stores of Starbuc