WHEN TIMES WERE NOT SO EASY

In 1994, Starbucks introduced its first drive through store. The company was hesitant at first to do this becomes they felt it would hinder from people coming into their store for the atmosphere and the leisure. But, the lure of fast and convenient ways to get the caffeine high won over. In the early nineties, Starbucks and other specialty coffee shops, such as Coffee Bean, were exponentially growing their chains. The Starbucks expansion took off when Howard Schultz bought the company from the former owners in 1987. In 1990 there were 84 Starbucks outlets in the US. By 1994 the number of stores reached 425. At the end of 2013, there were 19,676 Starbucks locations worldwide.