Friends since their University of San Francisco days, Gerald Baldwin, a former English teacher, Gordon Bowker, a writer, and Zev Siegl, a history teacher, were three 20-somethings who were passionate about the arts, fine food, good wine and, of course, great coffee. They started Starbucks because they wanted Seattle to have access to the delicious dark-roasted coffee that they loved – but had to go out of town to find. Investing $1,350 apiece and borrowing $5,000 from a bank, they took a name from classic literature and opened our first store on Mar. 30, 1971. Under the watchful gaze of an enigmatic mythological figure, Siegl scooped beans for customers; in the beginning, he was the only paid employee. The others kept their day jobs.

---

Product Life Cycle

Year	Stages
1971	Introduction
1987	Growth
1990	Maturity
2008	Declining

---

REVIEWS

Job security ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Skill Development ⭐ ⭐ Company Culture ⭐

Job security ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Skill Development ⭐ ⭐ Company Culture ⭐