Starbucks

Starbucks founded in 1971, is the worldпÑ--Ð...s leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee with coffeehouses in North America, Europe, Middle East, Latin America and the Pacific Rim.

Starbucks purchases and roasts high-quality whole bean coffees and sells them along with fresh, rich-brewed, Italian style espresso beverages, a variety of pastries and confections, and coffee-related accessories and equipment, primarily through its company-operated retail stores. On its Web site, Starbucks runs a simple, easy-to-use store that sells coffee beans, mugs, brewing machines and not much else.

Starbucks also provide high-speed wireless Internet connections in its stores. It now offers wireless broadband Internet service throughout North America, offering T-Mobile HotSpot in the U.S. and Bell Hotspot in Canada.

Music was a natural evolution in Starbucks as it had been playing music in the stores for almost 30 years. In 2004, Starbucks barista-in-chief Howard Schultz made a big push into music business, aiming to transform the record industry. It took innovative action to connect quality music to the Starbucks Experience by launching a revolutionary in-store CD burning service at the Starbucks Hear MusicпÑ--Ð... Coffeehouse in Santa Monica, California. With this innovative service, Starbucks customers can create personalized CD compilations and burn full-length albums from a vast digital library of songs. This service is currently available in selected location in Seattle and Austin.

Starbucks executives hesitate to put their strategic overhaul into a broader context. Can Schultz and his team carry off a transformation like this? Is it really a smart move for a coffee company like Starbucks to re-imagine itself as a lifestyle-entertainment enterprise and to start by serving up music? This paper addresses this problem by using SWOT analysis, PorterпÑ--Ð...s five forces model and value chain analysis. Some recommendations