Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 15,012 stores in 44 countries. Starbucks sells drip brewed coffee, espresso-based hot drinks, other hot and cold drinks, snacks, and items such as mugs and coffee beans. Through the Starbucks Entertainment division and Hear Music brand, the company also markets books, music, and film. Many of the company's products are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Starbucks-brand ice cream and coffee are also sold at grocery stores.
Starbucks' corporate headquarters are still in Seattle. As of January 2008, the members of the company's board of directors are Howard Schultz (Chair), Barbara Bass, Howard Behar, Bill Bradley, Mellody Hobson, Olden Lee, James Shennan, Jr., Javier Teruel, Myron Ullman, III, and Craig Weatherup.
From Starbucks' founding in Seattle as a local coffee bean roaster and retailer, Starbucks has expanded rapidly. In the 1990s, the company was opening a new store every workday, a pace that continued into the 2000s. Domestic growth has since slowed, although the company continues to expand in foreign markets and is opening seven stores a day worldwide. The first location outside of the U.S. and Canada was established in 1990s, and they now constitute almost one third of Starbucks' stores. As of November 2007, Starbucks had 8,505 company-owned outlets worldwide: 6,793 of them in the United States and 1,712 in other countries and U.S. territories. In addition, the company has 6,506 joint-venture and licensed outlets, 3,891 of them in the United States and 2,615 in other countries and U.S. territories. These joint ventures most notably include Barnes & Noble bookstores, Target Corporation retail centers, and Safeway Inc. grocery stores. This brings the total locations (as of November 2007) to 15,011 worldwide. Starbucks can be found in many popular grocery chains in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in many airports. In 2008, Starbucks was ranked #15 on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's list of Top 25 Green Power Partners for purchases of renewable energy.
