Image talk:Original Starbucks.jpg
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I have been a Seattle resident for 40 years. I used to work for Starbucks when there were only 12 locations in Seattle in the mid 80's before Howard Schultz bought the company. At that time it was common knowledge among all employees that the current store in Pike Place Market was NOT the original location! Starbucks was started at Pike Place Market in 1971 but in a DIFFERENT STOREFRONT location than the current one. The many people who have been mis-informed by this were not customers or employees in the early days. Most people don't really care that the current location is really not the original one but those of us who were there at the begining know the truth. I am sure that you can confirm this if you actually talk to others like myself who were early employees and customers.
I just did further research. I called the downtown Seattle library and talked with a refference expert who has also been a Starbucks fan since the 70's. He looked up old Seattle phone books and confirmed that the original Pike Place Market location was at 2000 Western Ave from 1971 until sometime around 1976. The 1977 phone book is the first one to list the 1912 Pike Place location for Starbucks! There it is! If you don't believe me call the downtown Seattle Public Library like I did! 206-386-4636
I just found another page with a picture that claims to have been taken in 1971 of the original store. But the picture could not have been taken in 1971 because all of the cars visible in the photo are models made in the early 80's or later! Check out the fake picture here:
http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/thompson/11e/case/starbucks.html
- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.212.61.131 (talk • contribs). (moved from image description page)
- You're right about the date of the photo, but I don't think it's "fake," just mislabelled (or ambiguously labelled). I'm still not convinced; I know people who have been long-time Seattle residents as well who assert that it's the original location, and there are many possible reasons why it couldn't be found in earlier phone books (them not paying to be listed in the yellow pages, for one). The City of Seattle is convinced that the one open at Pike Place now is the original.[1] As are plenty of other sites online.[2] I'm going to put this question to a wider audience and hopefully get it better confirmed one way or the other. Postdlf 23:25, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
- Discussion continued at Talk:Seattle,_Washington#First_Starbucks_location:_contradictory. Postdlf 23:40, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
- You're right about the date of the photo, but I don't think it's "fake," just mislabelled (or ambiguously labelled). I'm still not convinced; I know people who have been long-time Seattle residents as well who assert that it's the original location, and there are many possible reasons why it couldn't be found in earlier phone books (them not paying to be listed in the yellow pages, for one). The City of Seattle is convinced that the one open at Pike Place now is the original.[1] As are plenty of other sites online.[2] I'm going to put this question to a wider audience and hopefully get it better confirmed one way or the other. Postdlf 23:25, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
