Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee chain based in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest coffee company in the world, 2 with about 17,800 in 49 local Starbucks countries. The industry in which Starbucks operates is Specialty Eateries. Starbucks sells processed coffee and espresso hot drinks and other beverages, snacks and also sells some other products such as mugs and coffee beans. It also offers books, music CDs, and movies. Since the 1990’s, the company has opened a new store every Labor Day, this growth rate continues until today.
The first store under the name Starbucks was opened in Seattle, Washington in 1971 by three partners: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegel and writer Gordon Bowker. The three, inspired by the coffee businessman Alfred Peet opened their first shop selling coffee beans and machines, located at 2000 Western Avenue, from 1971 to 1976. In 1977 the store relocated to Pike Place. The entrepreneur Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982, and after a trip to Milan, proposed to his partners to expand the sale of coffee beans, with selling espresso and others, which was rejected by them for considering that this new activity would distract the company’s original goal, and it was also believed that coffee was something to be prepared at home.
Convinced of his idea it certainly would make more money offering coffee-to-go or to bring the U.S. in 1985, Howard Schultz opened his own chain of coffee shops under the name Il Giornale, taking the name of a newspaper published in Milan. A year earlier, the three original owners had decided to buy the company of Alfred Peet, Peet’s and Starbucks to sell Howard Schutz, who then decided to change the name of your company Il Giornale to Starbucks.
In 1987 the new Starbucks opened its first premises on the outskirts of Seattle and Chicago. The company joined the stock exchange on 26 June 1992, since then the stock has grown steadily to U.S. $ 39 in 2006. From this year the trend has been downward in 2008 reaching U.S. $ 17. In 1999, several premises were vandalized during the demonstrations against the WTO summit in Seattle. In 2000, some products were introduced under the fair trade alternative.
The key macroeconomic variables that affect the industry Specialty Eateries are inflation, unemployment and exchange rate. Inflation – is raising the general level of prices for goods and services. With inflation for the same amount of money after some time people can buy fewer goods and services than before. In this case it can be said that over time the purchasing power of money has declined, the money has lost some of its real value.
Unemployment ”“ is a social phenomenon, suggesting the absence of the people that make up the economically active population.
Effects of unemployment:
Reduced income;
Problems with psychological health;
Loss of qualification;
Economic consequences (loss of GDP);
Deterioration of the crime situation.
Exchange rate – the price (quote) of the currency of one country, denominated in the currency of another country, precious metals and securities. The concept of “exchange” is due to its characteristics such as convertibility. The degree of currency convertibility is regulated by the mechanism of state regulation of foreign exchange transactions. Currency is called the convertible, if the country of the currency to resident and nonresident does not apply any restrictions on foreign exchange transactions, and non-convertible, if the country of the currency valid legislative restrictions on almost all types of transactions with it. Partially convertible currency is considered to be the countries, in which restrictions and regulations on certain types of exchange transactions, or for some participants in these transactions. Freedom of currency conversion is based on the economic stability of the country, that is a legislative solution exchange is not enough, and there is the need of the confidence in the currency and the assessment of the economic viability of the country. Thus ,convertibility ”“ is the ability to freely exchange the currency for other currencies and back into the national currency in the currency markets.