But just how did Starbucks become such a phenomenon? Firstly, it successfully Americanised the European coffee tradition – something no other coffee house had done previously. Before Starbucks, coffee in its current form (latte, frappacino, mocha, etc.) was alien to most US consumers. Secondly, Starbucks did not just sell coffee – it sold an experience. As founding CEO Howard Schultz explained, “We are not in the coffee business serving people, we’re in the people business serving coffee” (Schultz and Yang, 1997). This epitomised the emphasis on customer service such as making eye contact and greeting each customer within 5 seconds, cleaning tables promptly and remembering the names of regular customers. From inception, Starbucks’ purpose was to reinvent a commodity with a sense of romance, atmosphere, sophistication and sense of community (Schultz and Yang, 1997). Next, Starbucks created a ‘third place’ in people’s lives – somewhere between home and work where they could sit and relax. This was a novelty in the US where in many small towns café culture consisted of filter coffee on a hot plate. In this way, Starbucks positioned itself to not only sell coffee, but also offer an experience. It was conceived as a lifestyle café. The establishment of the café as a social hub, with comfortable chairs and music has been just as important a part of the Starbucks brand as its coffee.