From its first store, opened in Seattle in 1971, to its current 7,521 self-operated and 5,647 licensed stores, almost one-third of which are in countries other than the United States, Starbucks has established itself as one of the major corporate success stories of the late 20th century.
From the very beginning it was Starbucks (Coffee, Tea and Spices), named for the first mate in Moby Dick. The original small bean roaster and retail store was started by three partners, Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel, and Gordon Bowker, with the strong support of Alfred Peet, from whom they originally bought their beans. After six years on Western Avenue, the store moved to Pike Place Market where it lived quietly for another six years. In the original logo, which can now only be found in this original store, the siren was topless - which caused some consternation when the company briefly brought back this logo in September 2006 to celebrate its 35th anniversary.
In 1982 Howard Schultz brought a new vibrancy to the company. Having experienced the espresso and coffeehouse culture of Italy, he envisioned developing and evolving a similar coffeehouse culture in the United States. The original partners opposed this idea: to them, coffee was something to be brewed and enjoyed at home. Temporarily they parted paths while Schultz opened Il Giornale, the first true United States-grown coffee bar chain. In the meantime, the original partners bought Peet's Coffee & Tea, where Jerry Baldwin works to this day as "Roastmaster Emeritus".