The first Starbucks opened in 1971 in Seattle's Pike Place Market. It grew to multiple locations in Washington state until the early 1980s when Howard Schultz recognized its potential and began working with the founder. Starbucks then experienced rapid expansion, going public in 1992 and growing tenfold by 1997 with locations worldwide. Today Starbucks has over 19,000 locations in 62+ countries serving millions of customers daily and employing over 182,000 people globally.