In 1971, three partners, Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin, and Zev Siegel opened a store in Seattle to roast and sell quality whole coffee beans. The trio had a passion for dark-roasted cof- fee, which was popular in Europe but yet to catch on in the United States. They chose Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice as the name of their store. The name Starbucks was taken from the name of a character from the novel Moby Dick. They chose the logo of a mermaid encircled by the store's name. The store offered a selection of 30 different varieties of whole-bean coffee, bulk tea, spices and other supplies but did not sell coffee by the cup. The popularity of the store grew and within 10 years, it employed 85 people, had five retail stores which sold freshly roasted coffee beans, a small roasting facility, and a wholesale business that supplied coffee to local restaurants. Its logo had become one of the most visible and respected logos