Howard Schultz is as big a dreamer as they come. When Howard Schultz purchased Starbucks for $4 million dollars on August 15, 1987 it was a small chain of coffeehouses in Seattle, Washington. Nothing more. Nothing less. Howard Schultz said his goal was to open a store in Portland, Oregon. A few decades later, there are 11,000 stores in 37 countries with approximately 35 million customer visits every week! And for what it’s worth, Starbucks opens 5 new stores every day 365 days a year.I love the way Schultz describes the moment in his autobiography, Pour Your Heart Into it:
"This is my moment, I thought. If I don’t seize the opportunity, if I don’t step out of my comfort zone and risk it all, if I let too much time tick on, my moment will pass. I knew that if I didn’t take advantage of this opportunity, I would replay it in my mind for my whole life, wondering: What if?"
On June 26, 1992, Starbucks’ stock went public. It was the second most active stock traded on the NASDAQ and by the closing bell, its market capitalization stood at $273 million.
When Mr. Schultz took over as CEO a few weeks ago the stock rose to over $20. Obviously it not the nearly $40 range from over a year ago, but it shows some positive momentum. Today we're hearing about changes, store closing and refocusing, and investors are responding with caution. My uneducated opinion says Starbucks will bounce back and continue to move forward.
Howard Schultz, you have my vote!
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