In which city is Starbucks headquartered?

Starbucks is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

The company’s world headquarters is Starbucks Center in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood, at the former Sears distribution complex near Utah Avenue South. Starbucks began moving administrative offices into the building in 1993 and became its primary tenant in 1997, when the building was renamed Starbucks Center.

Seattle is more than the company’s current corporate home: it is also where Starbucks began. The first store opened in 1971 at Pike Place Market, founded by Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin, and Zev Siegl. The original business initially focused on selling coffee beans and equipment rather than operating the large café chain associated with Starbucks today.

Howard Schultz later expanded the company’s espresso-bar model and led its rapid growth after acquiring Starbucks in 1987. The company went public in 1992, when it was still concentrated primarily in the Pacific Northwest. Its Seattle headquarters is therefore both a present-day corporate address and a link to the brand’s origins.