Q.3 How did the Starbucks of 2002 differ from the Starbucks of 1992? What about the Starbucks of 2007?
Viewing the business timeline for Starbucks keeping in perspective the three vital years listed in the question, it is quite apparent that the business went through a transition over three very different time periods. Examining the period from 1992 to 2007, the trends display a classic product life cycle evolution. The company has progressed from its initial growth boom beginning in 1992 due to its initial public offering, to a period of diversification in 2002 in how it reached-out and connected with its customers, to consistent further growth leading-up to a stage of partial consolidation and re-assessment in 2007.
1992 was more a year of fruition of possibilities than anything else for the Starbucks brand, since the present Chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz had been building-up a strong foundation for growth since 1987, when the first Starbucks store came about. It was a time to translate Schultz’s vision of establishing Starbucks as America’s “third place,” after home and work, and a perfect platform for creating a chain of outlets making the experience of having premium specialty-coffee accessible. He wanted to transfer and deliver the Milan coffee culture that had proven to be his inspiration to the American public, and he wanted to provide it with the same level of refinement, exclusivity and attention to detail as the original concept.
Therefore the Starbucks coffee experience of 1992 was all about providing premium-priced coffee beverages to well educated, white-collared customers ranging in age from 25 to 44, who really identified with the brand, embodied it and actually helped ...