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Starbucks in Japan

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Executive Summary
Thirty years ago, Starbucks was a single store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market selling premium-roasted coffee. Today it is a global roaster and retailer of coffee with some 17,000 stores, 40% of which are in 50 countries outside the United States. In 1995, with 700 stores across the US, Starbucks began exploring foreign opportunities. The first target market was Japan. The potential for coffee sales in Japan is significant. The Japanese economy is the third to the United States and China with a gross domestic product (GDP) of U.S. $5.96 trillion in 2012. Starbucks Coffee Japan, Ltd. is a major operator in the Japanese coffee store (retail sales of coffee and related goods and equipment) industry and has a paid-in-capital of 8,521 million yen (Starbucks, 2013). Starbucks Coffee Japan faces business risks and challenges as the company comes to the ten-year milestone of operations. Business expansion continues with new store openings, but concern persists about the stagnant Japanese economy. Since the opening of the first store on August 2, 1996, in the Ginza district of Tokyo, the network has expanded rapidly throughout the country and has reached 1000 stores in 2013.
We are going to analyze the current status of Starbucks Coffee Japan and identify its strengths and weaknesses. Regarding their global brand and Japanese market, we will give the recommendation of business strategy for Starbucks Japan.

Starbucks in Japan Starbucks Coffee Japan was established in October 1995, as a joint venture between Sazaby League and Starbucks Coffee International, the international arm and subsidiary of Starbucks Coffee Company the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world. Each company held a 50% stake in the venture, Starbucks Coffee of Japan. Starbucks initially invested $10 million in this venture, its first foreign direct

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