Starbucks

So, I was recently employed with Starbucks for quite some time, and I had always wondered about the history of why you can't find any Starbucks within Italy. So I checked it out. And this is the gist of it.

Basically this guy named Howard Schultz becomes President and CEO of Starbucks in 1987. At the time they really only sold whole-bean coffees in stores across the US. But hey, 20 years later and instant popularity. They've expanded to 12,000 stores with more than 150,000 full-time employees. So why is this 30 billion dollar franchise not present in one of the coffee capitals of the world?

The espresso culture in Italy is too different to compare. In fact, when Howard visited Italy in the mid-1980s, he was so fascinated by the atmosphere in the authentic Italian café, that he was inspired for Starbucks. Really the evolution of Starbucks absorbed the Italian coffee culture, but was built around an American society.

Starbucks just would not work in Italy.

The coffee experience for Italians is such an intimate experience, one that is far more personal than any Starbucks could offer you. It basically comes down to this concept of "slow-food" vs. "fast-food". Plastic cups? In Italy? Wait, we're allowed to leave the café with this?

Should Starbucks risk their corporate image by attempting to succeed in Italy?

Well, that's the question that Mr. Schultz probably wonders on a regular basis. Italy could be a gold mine with all those Italians obsessed with getting their espresso 4 times a day. Can you imagine? Starbucks changing the Italian tradition? Call me a stubborn Italian, but it wouldn't work. The benefits of attempting this feat and succeeding are far smaller than the losses of trying and failing, and losing their corporate image.

Might be some weird strategy Howard's got going on, or maybe he just won't take the risk..

*as a side note, ever wonder what the deal is with the Starbucks logo?