Which coffeehouse chain was founded in Seattle in 1971?

The coffeehouse chain founded in Seattle in 1971 was Starbucks.

Starbucks opened its first store on March 30, 1971, at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Its founders were Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker, who began by selling roasted coffee beans, brewing equipment, and related products rather than the espresso drinks most customers associate with Starbucks today.

The founders drew inspiration from Alfred Peet, whose Berkeley coffee business helped spark the specialty-coffee movement in the United States. The Starbucks name was chosen after brainstorming words beginning with “st,” eventually combining the fictional sailor Starbuck from Moby-Dick with an earlier idea linked to the Pacific Northwest.

A common mix-up is crediting Howard Schultz with founding Starbucks. Schultz joined later, in 1982, and helped transform the company into a café business after being influenced by Italy’s espresso bars. He eventually led its rapid expansion, but Baldwin, Siegl, and Bowker founded the original Seattle company. The first store also changed addresses: the current Pike Place location is not the building where the business initially opened.