Starbucks first opened its doors in Seattle's Pike Place Market, the name being inspired by that of Moby Dick's first sidekick (Schultz & Yang 1999). It has expanded its stores across North America, throughout Europe, the Middle East, Latin America as well as the Pacific region, with approximately 35 million customers per week (Michelli, 2008). With considerable growth, the company grew from a small coffee shop to an international icon and today is one of the world's leading specialty coffee retailers, roasters and brands (Story, 1971). The company offers whole bean coffees, espresso drinks as well as confectionery and bakery items. Since its inception, the company has established itself as the leading supplier of the best coffee in the world. Safe for that, it has gained popularity as the most aggressive coffee retailer. The company has had such an impact on the world that it has developed a niche in the market that has seen it transform coffee from a beverage to a lifestyle accessory, rather a fashion icon ( Starbucks.com). Starbucks' main strategy is to grow the business and open stores around the world offering freshly brewed coffee. They plan to achieve this by maintaining the highest quality products while offering them at a higher price. As stated earlier, Starbucks mainly focuses its business on coffee-related products as well as retail stores. The strategic approach taken by Starbucks is more or less a corporate level strategy based on the fact that it is a unique company. The main objective of this business strategy is to ensure that it maintains its principles of uncompromising growth while at the same time remaining a supplier of the best coffee in the world...... middle of paper ......- Beverage price hikes due to soaring coffee costs, September 22, 2010/Rodenberg, J., Costa Coffee vs. Starbucks. Business intelligence. Retrieved from: http://www.rodenberg.nl/publications/publications/COSTA_COFFEE_vs_STARBUCKS.pdf Schultz, H. and Yang, DJ, 1999. Pour Your Heart In: How Starbucks Built a Business, One Cup at a Time (p 351). )Stigler, GJ, 1958. Economies of scale. Journal of Law and Economics, 1, 54-71. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/724882Story, TS, 1971. Starbucks Company Profile. Folklore.Vitez Osmond, 2011. eHow Contributor. Key elements of a market analysis. Available at: http://www.ehow.com/about_5415382_key-elements-market-analysis.htmlWarwick-Ching, Lucy, 2007. Costa tops coffee outlet rankings. Financial time. Retrieved from: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/44580364-0cb7-11dc-a4dc-000b5df10621.html#axzz1LI8spN30