“We don’t run a coffee business; we run a people-serving coffee business.”
— Howard Schultz, former CEO, Starbucks
The Scene You Cannot Miss When Talking About Howard Schultz
Schultz started working at Starbucks in 1982. At the time, Starbucks was a small shop selling coffee beans. In 1983, he witnessed espresso bar culture in Milan, Italy, and tried to convince the company based on that experience, but was rejected. So he left. He opened a coffee shop named Il Giornale. In 1987, the original Starbucks founders decided to sell the business. Schultz gathered investors and bought the company. All Il Giornale signs were changed to Starbucks. The one who rejected was sold, and the one who was rejected consumed it.
In 1992, Schultz took Starbucks public. Using a company valuation of $271 million as a springboard, he quickly doubled the number of stores. And in 2000, he stepped down from the CEO position. Eight years later, in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis, he returned. Returning in place of his predecessor Jim Donald, he closed hundreds of stores and laid off numerous executives and employees. His approach to addressing the crisis was aggressive. The revived company subsequently penetrated the Chinese market deeply and created coffee consumption in a country with a deep tea culture.
In March 2022, he returned for the third time. He returned as interim CEO with the announcement of Kevin Johnson’s retirement. This time, without completing a year, he announced an early retirement in March 2023. Lakshmam Narasimhan succeeded him in April of that year. Schultz left three times and returned three times. What that company was to him is evident from that number alone.
Three Core Brand Philosophy Principles
The One Who Was Rejected Swallowed the Company
Schultz brought the espresso bar idea to Starbucks and was rejected. So he left. He opened a store named Il Giornale. In 1987, the original Starbucks founders decided to sell the business. Schultz gathered investors and bought the company. All Il Giornale signs were changed to Starbucks. The one who rejected was sold, and the one who was rejected consumed it. If this order feels strange, it means you don’t yet understand that execution is stronger than persuasion.
He Broke Through the Crisis Head-On
When Schultz returned in 2008, Starbucks was struggling. Schultz did not address it gently. He closed hundreds of stores and replaced many executives. He introduced a nationwide loyalty program and strengthened fair trade standards. During the same period, he accelerated market penetration in China and created new consumption habits in regions outside the United States. He did not bow down in the face of crisis. Instead, he changed even more. As a result, Starbucks maintained its position as the world’s largest coffee chain.
He Pursued His Ideas Outside the Company
Schultz publicly considered running as an independent candidate in three U.S. presidential elections in 2012, 2016, and 2020. He did not run in any of the three. But the very fact that he publicly raised the possibility is meaningful. He supported both social liberalism and fiscal conservatism, and externally supported a U.S.-led international order. The Schultz Family Foundation was established to support military veterans and address youth unemployment. He did not accumulate his business success solely for personal assets. Regardless of whether that direction is right, he was someone who connected his thoughts to action.
SOULPAPAMARKETING’s Perspective
After failing to persuade, Schultz opened his own shop. It wasn’t that he disliked the company; he couldn’t abandon what he had seen. Il Giornale was born that way. It was a shop created by someone who was rejected. And that shop ultimately swallowed Starbucks. The order is strange, but that order is right.
A man who left three times and returned three times. Usually, once you leave, you don’t return. It’s partly due to pride and partly due to the feeling that it no longer belongs to them. It seems Schultz prioritized the company over that feeling. Or perhaps the company was still his to him. A brand as identity, not ownership. He showed what that is through his actions.
What’s interesting is that he considered running for president three times and abandoned it three times. The key is that he brought it up publicly. It was not a declaration but deliberation, and he did not hide that deliberation. In an era when a businessman simply mentioning politics is a risk, he repeated it. It’s a different approach from image management. It’s the way of someone who simply speaks their mind.
The longer you observe a brand, there comes a moment when that brand feels like a person. Starbucks had resembled the person Howard Schultz for a very long time. A person who sold coffee but whose purpose was not coffee. That gap made Starbucks something more than just a café chain. It’s still difficult to explain exactly what that something is now. That is also the real power of a brand.
References
- Howard Schultz — Wikipedia
- Howard Schultz on Starbucks’ mission and values — NYCE App / Instagram
- Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson retiring, Howard Schultz returning as interim CEO — Starbucks Newsroom
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Howard Schultz’s experience in Milan in 1983 change Starbucks?
Schultz witnessed espresso bar culture in Milan in 1983 and proposed the idea to Starbucks, but was rejected. As a result, he founded a coffee shop called Il Giornale, and when the original Starbucks founders decided to sell the company in 1987, he gathered investors to acquire it. All Il Giornale signs were changed to Starbucks, and the rejected party ultimately consumed the original company.
How did Schultz normalize Starbucks during the 2008 financial crisis?
After returning as CEO in place of Jim Donald, Schultz launched an aggressive recovery effort, closing hundreds of stores and replacing many executives. He implemented a nationwide loyalty program, strengthened fair trade standards, and accelerated efforts to penetrate the Chinese market, creating new coffee consumption habits in a country with a deep tea culture.
Why did Schultz return to Starbucks three times?
Schultz stepped down from the CEO position in 2000, returned during the 2008 financial crisis, and came back for the third time in March 2022 with the announcement of Kevin Johnson’s retirement. This pattern of leaving three times and returning three times shows that Starbucks was for him a brand as identity, not simply an object of ownership.
Original Korean: https://soulpapa.co.kr/2026/03/11/ceo-interview-starbucks-2026-03-11/
Insights from Soulpapa Marketing — Korea’s digital marketing agency.
