Starbucks was just a local Seattle operation when Howard Schultz — now the company's executive chairman — walked into one in 1981. Schultz, who in 1987 bought Starbucks with the help of local investors, had a vision of it becoming a "place for conversation and a sense of community. A third place between work and home," according to the company's website. Today, Starbucks states that its mission is "to inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time," but a recent incident, resulting in the arrest of two African-American men, on April 12, made headlines for brutal treatment that occured at a Philadelphia Starbucks location.