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Howard Schultz was born
Howard Schultz was born on July 19th, 1953 in the housing projects of Brooklyn, New York. -
Leaves for college
Schultz went to college on a football scholarship to Nothern Michigan University. He recieved a bachelors degree in Communications and was the first person in his family to graduate college. -
Graduates college
Schultz graduates college and begins working for Xerox Corporation but later worked for a Swedish kitchen appliance company, Hammerplast. -
Sent to Seattle to sell appliances to a popular coffee shop.
Schultz was sent to Seattle to a popular coffee shop called Starbucks for work. They were interested in buying their Swedish drip coffeemakers. -
Recieved a job with Starbucks
He became so interested in Starbucks he begged the owners, Gerald Baldwin and Gordon Bowker, to be apart of the business claiming he saw great potential for expansion. The owners later named him the director of operations and marketing. -
Traveled to Milan, Italy
Schultz traveled to Milan, Italy and was amazed at the many coffee bars on every street. He thought it would be a great oppurtunity for the company to bring the experience of a coffee bar to the United States. -
The start of IL Giornale
He came back from Italy in hopes of bringing the experience of a coffee bar to Starbucks but his bosses turned his idea down. Schultz then left Starbucks and started a rival company based upon his idea called II Giornale, which is Italian for "the daily". -
CEO of Starbucks
IL Giornale was very sucessful and 2 years later he bought Starbucks for $3.8 million from his previous bosses. -
Starbucks grows
By 1988, Starbucks had opened 12 stores in Chicago. -
Growth of Starbucks
Since Schultz has taken over as CEO, chairman and president, the company has grown to more than 16,000 stores around the world. Starbucks specializes in specialty coffee drinks as well as arabica beans from which it is made from.
