The Seattle company opened its first shop in 1971.
Starbucks is the coffee icon people either love or love to hate.
One of My friend name Patricia is addicted to
it...lol.. all these years later,
the coffee giant is still brewing up
addictive drinks and venti-sized controversy across the globe.

1) Logo: At close inspection, the Starbucks logo makes no sense. Since Starbucks was named after a nautical character, the original Starbucks logo was designed to reflect the seductive imagery of the sea. An early creative partner dug through old marine archives until he found an image of a siren from a 16th century Nordic woodcut. She was bare-breasted, twin-tailed and simply screamed, “Buy coffee!”

2)Nothing says marketing genius like an extremely vague literary reference. At
least that was the logic of Starbucks’ original founders — two teachers and a
writer — who chose to name their fledgling coffee bean business after a
supporting character in Moby-Dick.When the first Starbucks opened, it didn’t
sell coffee drinks, just beans. The founders wanted to name the place after Captain Ahab’s first mate Starbuck. Right… that guy. Before that, they considered naming it after Ahab’s boat, the Pequod, but changed their mind — according to a Starbucks spokesperson — when a friend tried out the tagline “Have a cup of Pequod.”

3) Every Corner:
You won't believe but there are over 16,700 Starbucks locations in more than
50 countries. During a particularly heady period in the late 1990s and early
aughts, Starbucks was opening a new store every workday.In 2008 and 2009, as millions of Starbucks customers lost their latte money — and their homes, cars and first born children — to the recession, the coffee giant was forced to shrink just a tad. It closed 771 stores worldwide and has plans to close a couple hundred more. Australia was particularly hard-hit, losing 61 of its 84 Starbucks in July 2008. At least they still have giant beer and koalas.But before you start feeling sorry for the Seattle-based mega-retailer, consider this statistic gathered by Harper’s magazine in 2002, confirming the nagging suspicion that Starbucks is stalking you: 68 of Manhattan’s 124 Starbucks are located within two blocks (!) of another Starbucks.

4) Hand in the Tip Jar:
Back in 2008, a San Diego judge ordered Starbucks to pay back $86 million in tips (plus interest) to over 100,000 of its California baristas. For years, Starbucks had a policy of spreading the tip jar love among all employees, even shift supervisors. The cash and coins (and occasional Skittles) were pooled weekly and divvied out according to how many hours the employee had clocked, adding up to an extra $1.71 an hour.

An ex-barista filed a class-action suit in 2006 citing that supervisors aren’t entitled to tips under California law. The Super Court judge agreed, and dropped the $105 million bomb on Starbucks in a curt four-paragraph ruling. Starbucks called the suit “fundamentally unfair and beyond all common sense and reason,” citing the fact that supervisors also make coffee and serve customers.

In a rare win for corporate American (ahem), the judge’s ruling was reversed a year later by the Court of Appeals, who agreed that supervisors “essentially perform the same job as baristas.” Just don’t tell that to their girlfriends.


5)The Starbucks-Peet’s Connection

Remember the first time you saw The Empire Strikes Back?
All you Peet’s Coffee & Tea fans are about to have your own one-hand Luke moment. Back in 1970, Starbucks co-founder Jerry Baldwin worked at the original Berkeley location of Peet’s, the creator of the American specialty coffee concept. When Baldwin and his buddies Zev Siegel and Gordon Bowker decided to open their own coffee shop in Seattle in 1971, they bought all their raw beans from Alfred Peet.

But here’s the kicker. Baldwin actually bought Peet’s in 1984, then he sold Starbucks in 1987. He was the chairman of Peet’s until 2001 when the store went public and he became the director. In other words, “Peet’s, I am your father!”
So if you’re one of those people who hates Starbucks and loves Peet’s Coffee & Tea or one of those people who hates Peet’s and loves the bux, it turns out you’re only hating yourself.