Original Starbucks, Coffee shop at Pike Place Market in Seattle, United States
The Original Starbucks is a coffee shop in Seattle's Pike Place Market, housed in a small space with an old wooden counter from Italy and brown wood paneling. The facade shows the historic signage and window with hand-painted lettering, while inside, old brass coffee bins line the walls.
Gordon Bowker, Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegl opened the first Starbucks on March 30, 1971, selling whole-bean coffee, tea and spices. The shop stood at 2000 Western Avenue for five years before moving to 1912 Pike Place. It is one of three stores Starbucks calls "The Heritage Market", all within five blocks of each other.
The storefront keeps the brown siren logo used before the chain adopted its green emblem. It began as a seller of whole-bean coffee, tea and spices, not prepared drinks. The shop is one of three Starbucks sites within five blocks that the company calls its Heritage Market.
Those wanting to avoid queues should come early in the morning or late in the evening when fewer tourists are around. The shop sits right on Pike Place Market, so you can combine the visit with a walk through the market stalls.
The storefront still carries the hand-painted lettering from the seventies, and the brass labels on the coffee bins date back to the shop's early years. Inside, an old photo of the founders hangs by the register, recalling the time when you could only buy roasted beans here and not finished drinks.
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