By 1996, Starbucks has expanded across America and they are ready to expand outside. They had their sights in Japan first and Howard Schultz was again faced with a lot of challenges as he was told that Starbucks will not make it in Japan. The no smoking policy will be a drawback and the place should be small because rents are so high in Japan.
But still, he believed that what they have is good and so they still opened in Tokyo. The first day they opened, there were hundreds of Japanese who lined up to buy Starbucks coffee. There are now Starbucks branches in 39 countries and Howard Schultz looks to open more.