The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

In 1982, Starbucks hired Howard Schultz as its di-
rector of retail operations and marketing. In the
spring of 1983, the company sent Schultz to Milan,
Italy, to attend an international housewares show.
He was impressed with the popularity of espresso
bars in Milan and saw the potential of building a sim-
ilar coffee bar culture in the United States. He noted
that Americans had increasing incomes, increased
air travel, changing work patterns, and more time
constraints. He believed that these were all factors
that had the potential to change consumer priori-
ties. His vision was to build a national brand around
coffee and create a retail store that would become a
third destination between home and work. In 1987,
with the backing of local investors, Schultz pur-
chased the company, which became known as the
Starbucks Corporation.
By the late 1980’s, Americans’ desire for afford-
able luxuries had grown. More disposable income
and European travel gave Americans a new interest
in the cultures and products they sampled abroad.
This interest fed the specialty coffee market, and
sales soared. Starbucks was credited with changing
people’s expectations of how coffee should taste;
changing the language of coffee drinks by introduc-
ing Italian terms such asgrande(large) andventi
(twenty ounces); changing the way coffee was or-
dered by offering customized options (for example,
using skim milk instead of whole milk for a “nonfat”
option or mixing regular and decaffeinated coffee
to make a “half-caf”); changing how and where peo-
ple met, as Starbucks became known as a safe place
to socialize and conduct business; changing urban
streetscapes, as a Starbucks located in a neighbor-
hood became an indication that the area would be a
desirable place to live and work; and raising social
consciousness, as one aspect of the Starbucks mission
statement encouraged employees to make a contri-
bution to the community and the environment.

Impact From its humble beginnings, Starbucks
grew to become the world’s largest multinational
chain of coffee shops. The initiatives and innova-
tions that Starbucks developed to market specialty
coffee became the standard for the industry. In ad-
dition, the company’s popularity helped drive a
broader explosion of coffee culture in the United
States. Several other national and regional chains
arose, such as Seattle’s Best Coffee and Caribou Cof-
fee, as did a great many individual coffee stores. Far

from driving one another out of business, the sheer

number of the stores seemed to encourage Ameri-

cans to patronize coffee stores in general, as in some

cities, multiple stores seemed able to thrive on the

same block.

Further Reading

Koehn, Nancy. “Howard Schultz and Starbucks Cof-

fee Company.” InHow Entrepreneurs Earned Con-

sumers’ Trust: From Wedgewood to Dell. Boston: Har-

vard Business School Press, 2001.

Michelli, Joseph.The Starbucks Experience: Five Princi-

ples for Turning Ordinar y into Extraordinar y. New

York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Schultz, Howard, and Dori Jones Yang.Pour Your

Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One

Cup at a Time. New York: Hyperion, 1997.

Sharon M. LeMaster

See also Business and the economy in the United

States; Fads; Food trends.

Statue of Liberty restoration

and centennial

The Event Full-scale restoration effort and

centennial celebration for the Statue of Liberty

Date Restoration took place from 1984 to 1986;

centennial celebration held July 4-6, 1986

Place Statue of Liberty National Monument, Ellis

Island, New York City

The much-needed restoration of the Statue of Liberty and

subsequent centennial celebration provided Americans with

an opportunity to reflect upon their nation’s histor y and the

heritage of the immigrants that passed through Ellis Island.

The Statue of Liberty National Monument, one of

the United States’ most recognizable national sym-

bols, turned one hundred years old on October 28,

1986. France had given the statue, designed by
      Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, to the United States in
      1886, in recognition of a friendship that had begun
      during the American Revolution. Erecting the statue
      had been a joint effort between the two countries,
      with France responsible for designing the statue and
      assembling it in the United States and the United
      States responsible for building its pedestal. In May of
      1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed former
      Chrysler executive Lee Iacocca to head a private-

The Eighties in America Statue of Liberty restoration and centennial
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