Starbucks just seems to be one of those places where people go to give themselves a treat. Sure, they could make the coffee at home, but somehow, getting it at Starbucks gets their day started on the right foot.
One of the things we don’t often consider when it comes to that coffeehouse is the name. Would it surprise you to know, however, that Starbucks was not the first choice they had for the establishment?
Gordon Bowker, the co-founder of Starbucks, said that there were a few names on their radar when it started. He had an interview with the Seattle Times where he gave up much of this information.
At one point, they were close to calling it “Cargo House,” which somehow just doesn’t sound as enjoyable as having a Starbucks coffee. It seems as if he felt the same, saying that it would have been a “terrible, terrible mistake” to choose that name.
One of the things that they did to come up with the name is to look for anything that started with the “st” sound. As a result, it would be on the list of “power words,” which was something they were looking for.
When they looked at the Cascades, they saw a small mining town named Starbo. Bowker then associated the name of that town with the name of the first mate in Moby Dick, Starbuck.
Interestingly, they almost went with the name of the whaling ship from that book rather than Starbucks. The boat’s name was Pequod, which probably would have been another mistake.
You might be thinking that Starbuck loved coffee in the book but in reality, Bowker corrects that notion by saying that he loved it in the movie and not in the book.
Florinel Gorgan
He went on to say: “Moby-Dick has nothing to do with coffee as far as I know. It was only coincidental that the sound seemed to make sense.”
So now you know the rest of the story, and perhaps it is one that will help to enhance your appreciation of that coffee giant even further.