Coffee giant celebrates 25 years in Vancouver
The company’s first shop outside of Seattle — now one of 298 in area — opened in 1987 at Waterfront Station
A few months ago, John Neate, owner of Vancouver’s popular JJ Bean coffee shops, was inspired to do something a little unusual.
He placed a phone call to business rival Howard Schultz and thanked him for making Starbucks Coffee Company the global sensation that it is today.
“I wouldn’t exist without them,” Neate said of the Seattle coffee giant’s revolutionary influence on the business — and art — of brewing coffee beans.
“Coffee shops have really replaced churches and community halls as the common place to meet, and that is all Starbucks’ doing.”
Neate’s comments come as Starbucks celebrates 25 years in Vancouver.
The city’s first store — and the company’s first outside of Seattle — opened in March 1987 at Waterfront Station. Since then, Starbucks’ presence has spread to 298 locations in Metro Vancouver, 1,146 across Canada and 17,000 worldwide.
Cliff Burrows, president of operations in North, South and Central America, called the company’s initial decision to move into British Columbia a quarter of a century ago “the start of an amazing journey.”
“It really was the catalyst to be in more than 55 countries around the globe,” he said.
Burrows was a late replacement for Starbucks CEO Schultz at a media event Thursday held in Gastown to mark the anniversary.
Schultz, an American entrepreneur and best- selling author, had intended to be part of the celebrations. However, media were informed early Thursday morning he was unavailable.
Burrows took to a small stage set up at the Starbucks on Water Street to thank the company’s new and longtime customers, as well as its 13,000 Canadian employees for the brand’s enduring success.
Burrows also announced a $ 25,000 donation to the Vancouver Foundation in support of programming that encourages young people to take positive action in their local communities.
Vancouver’s proximity to and cultural affinity with Seattle made it the perfect choice for expansion in 1987.
“So many people came down to Seattle to experience Starbucks, it just seemed such a natural fit. Having so much of a community, coffee heritage and real passion for some of the finest coffees in the world,” Burrows said.
Neate, who launched the first two JJ Bean Coffee Roasters shops on Granville Island and Powell Street in 1996, well remembers the impact of Starbucks’ arrival in the city.
“It was such a different approach on things. At the time nobody had dark roast coffee, or Indonesian or African coffees,” he said of the company’s many trendsetting innovations. He believes Starbucks continues to set the standard for all other coffee shops, including his own. “I supply coffee to 250 wholesale customers and I always tell them that if they can’t come up to the standard of Starbucks, they shouldn’t even enter the game,” he said.