Starbucks unveils logo, celebrates 40 years

In 40 years it went from a tiny store near Pike Place Market to a global brand, recognized around the world.  Starbucks is celebrating its  anniversary with a new, simplified logo that doesn’t have the word "Starbucks" or "coffee" on it. 

On Tuesday, a band played and hundreds of employees gathered and cheered as the logo was unveiled at Starbucks headquarters in Seattle.  CEO Howard Schultz told the crowd there were many doubters in the beginning who didn’t think Starbucks could ever go beyond the West Coast. "But they were wrong," he said.

Melissa Allison writes in the Seattle Times that Schultz reminded employees that he is not the founder of Starbucks.

The company was started in 1971 across the street from Pike Place Market by Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegl. Two of them, Baldwin and Bowker, went on to buy Peet's Coffee in the Bay Area, and Baldwin still sits on its board.  Two of them, Bowker and Siegl, still live in Seattle.

The vision for creating a vast network of coffeehouses came from Schultz, who started working at Starbucks in 1982 as director of retail operations marketing.

On Tuesday, the coffee company's stock price climbed 41 cents to $34.01, near a 52-week high.