If you are considering filling out a Starbucks application and working in one the many Starbucks locations – or becoming a partner as the company calls it – learning a little more about the company is always interesting, and may be even useful during the interview process.

The first Starbucks location opened in Seattle in 1971 and it was decided to name the store after a character from the book Moby Dick – first mate Starbuck. The founders thought that the name would bring to mind “the romance of the high seas and the seafaring tradition of the early coffee traders”

In 40 years the Starbucks concept has spread all over the world and there are now 15,000 stores in 50 different countries. Since 1987 on average Starbucks has opened a new store, somewhere in the world, on a daily basis and there are more than 137,000 employees, which is more than the population of Greenland!