Few companies in the food and drink industry have grown as widely and successfully as Starbucks. In just two decades, Starbucks has grown from a small chain of U.S. coffee shops into an international powerhouse. From Japan to England to Mexico, Starbucks is now one of the world’s best-known brands, with thousands of s shops around the world.
powerhouse：大手企業
What is the secret of their amazing success? Actually, both the history and concept of Starbucks are very simple. It started in the 1970s as a small chain in Seattle, Washington, a crowded market with heavy competition. The owner, Howard Schultz, was looking for a way to make his shops unique. So he took a trip to Italy, where he studied the style and culture of Italian coffee shops.
competition：競争
Back in America, Schultz applied some of his findings. He made Starbucks shops more comfortable and sold a variety of high-quality European and American drinks. The “coffee culture” he created turned out to be very popular. Starbucks cafes became fun places to chat, read the morning paper, or hold a business meeting.
turn out to be：という結果になる
hold a meeting：会議を開く
Behind this simple idea is a strong business model and excellent marketing, and the company’s sales and profit numbers are remarkable. Starbucks went public in 1992. Over the next decade, sales grew an average of 20 percent per year, while profits grew an average of 30 percent yearly. As the company expanded overseas in the mid-1990s, its market share and profits continued to rise. Investors rewarded the stock by driving up the stock price.
go public：上場する
reward the stock：株式に報いる
drive up：上げる
Of course, every success produces competitors. Other coffee-shop chains have opened to try to capture some of the lucrative market. Also, Starbucks already has a large number of coffee shops in the U.S. (more than 11,000 in 2008). That means they are running out of places to open shops domestically.
capture：獲得する
lucrative：利益の上がる
run out of X：Xを使い果たす
domestically：国内で
Regardless of these issues, Starbucks continues to grow and impress. There is still plenty of room to expand overseas. Also, riding the strength of their brand, they now sell bottled coffee drinks, ice cream, coffee beans, and other products. With so many revenue sources and ongoing expansion plans, the sky’s the limit for Starbucks.
regardless of X：Xとは関係ない
impress：感銘を与える
revenue source：財源
ongoing：継続している
expansion：拡大
the sky is the limit：天井知らず、可能性に制限がない
(ref.) be skyrocketing：青天井である