page_title: Starbucks
section_title: Unbranded stores
hierarchical_section_title: Starbucks / Locations / Unbranded stores
caption_attribution_description: Roy Street Coffee &amp; Tea at 700 Broadway E in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. An example of a Stealth Starbucks, or a Starbucks location without corporate branding.
context_page_description: Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. As the world's largest coffeehouse chain, Starbucks is seen to be the main representation of the United States' second wave of coffee culture. As of early 2020, the company operates over 30,000 locations worldwide in more than 70 countries. Starbucks locations serve hot and cold drinks, whole-bean coffee, microground instant coffee known as VIA, espresso, caffe latte, full- and loose-leaf teas including Teavana tea products, Evolution Fresh juices, Frappuccino beverages, La Boulange pastries, and snacks including items such as chips and crackers; some offerings are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store.
  Headquartered in the Starbucks Center, the company was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker at Seattle's Pike Place Market. During the early 1980s, they sold the company to Howard Schultz who – after a business trip to Milan, Italy – decided to make the coffee bean store a coffeeshop serving espresso-based drinks.
context_section_description: In 2009, at least three stores in Seattle were de-branded to remove the logo and brand name, and remodel the stores as local coffee houses "inspired by Starbucks." CEO Howard Schultz called the unbranded stores a "laboratory for Starbucks". The first, 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, opened in July 2009 on Capitol Hill. It served wine and beer and hosted live music and poetry readings. It has since been remodeled and reopened as a Starbucks-branded store. Another is Roy Street Coffee and Tea at 700 Broadway E., also on Capitol Hill. Although the stores have been called "stealth Starbucks" and criticized as "local-washing," Schultz says that "It wasn't so much that we were trying to hide the brand, but trying to do things in those stores that we did not feel were appropriate for Starbucks."
caption: Roy Street Coffee & Tea in Seattle, an example of a stealth Starbucks, 2016
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