Starbucks coffee

The Starbucks coffee shop on Sixth Avenue and Pine Street in down Seattle sits serene and orderly, as unremarkable as any other in the chain bought 15 years ago by entrepreneur Howard Schultz. A little less than three years ago, however, the quiet storefront made front pages around the world. During the world Trade Organization talks in November,1999,protester flooded Seattle�s streets, and among their targets was Starbucks, a symbol, to them, of free-market capitalism run amok, another multinational out to blanket the earth. Amid the crowds of protesters and riot police were black-masked anarchists who trashed the store, leaving its windows smashed and its tasteful green-and-white d�cor smelling of tear gas instead of espresso. Says an angry Schulz: �It�s hurtful. I think people are ill-informed. It�s very difficult to protest against a can of Coke , a bottle of Pepsi, or a can of Folgers. Starbucks is both this ubiquitous brand and a place where you can go and break a window...

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