Onward - Book Review

Onward is a book written by Starbucks ceo Howard Schultz (the company uses lower case for all job titles) about how the company recalibrated itself after getting too big, too fast. The reason I chose to read and review this book is because I am a coffee addict. Ironically, I am not a fan of Starbucks. I’ve always felt that their coffee is a bit overpriced and just very dramatic for my liking. However, I’ve always been intrigued by the store’s ambiance. I admit that I’ve visited a number of stores with friends to play catch up over a cup of coffee and I did feel warm, cozy, and welcomed. I wondered to myself, how does this company do it? How do they provide their customers with this “third place” feeling? As Schultz mentions early in the book, if home is a person’s “first place” to connect with others, and work is a person’s “second place” to connect with others, then a public place such as a coffeehouse- such as Starbucks- is what he refers to be a person’s “third place”. Onward is the chronicle of a ceo’s mission to revive, reinvigorate, and reinvent a company without losing the essence of what the company was originally built on.

Schultz was born and raised in the poor projects of Brooklyn, New York. Upon finishing College, he accepted a job offer in Seattle as head of marketing for a small coffee company called Starbucks. At the time, the company only sold coffee beans, no beverages. It wasn’t until a business trip to Italy that Howard discovered his true passion for coffee. At a small coffee shop in Milan, he was inspired watching a barista work his magic- pouring shots of espresso into small porcelain cups, creating these warm relationships with his customers. He described it as theater and said: “The blend of craftsmanship and human connection, combined with the warm aroma and energizing flavors of rich coffee, struck an emotional chord” (10). It was almost as if he instantly envisioned the future of Starbucks. Back in Seattle, his proposal to recreate this Italian coffee bar experience was turned down by Starbucks founders. He later left the company and opened up his own shop, called Il Giornale, where he was able to live that dream and a year and a half later he purchased his former employer’s company, allowing him to keep the name, Starbucks. As the business grew, it became more than just a coffee shop, but a promising investment for its stockholders. Stores were opening up at an increasingly