Gordon Bowker in 2021. Picture courtesy of Jerry Baldwin.

Gordon Bowker, the writer-turned-entrepreneur who co-founded Starbucks in 1971 and helped set the course for the specialty espresso motion in Seattle and past, died final week on the age of 82.

In response to a remembrance from the Seattle Occasions and quite a few different sources, Bowker was born in Oakland, California. When Bowker was simply three years outdated, his father died serving in World Struggle II. His mom then moved the household to the Seattle space (Ballard) to stay along with her dad and mom. 

As an grownup — working as a author and editor on the unique Seattle journal, amongst different writing pursuits — Bowker teamed up together with his mates Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegl in quite a few artistic partnerships, together with writing a screenplay and making pre-recorded radio broadcasts. 

Finally, the three males determined to launch a espresso enterprise, opening the primary Starbucks retailer close to Seattle’s Pike Place Market in March of 1971 — lengthy earlier than the corporate grew to become related to chain shops or espresso drinks — promoting espresso beans and gear. 

“Gordon was past artistic, he was an unique, somebody who had an innate sense of what was coming subsequent,” Baldwin instructed Day by day Espresso Information this week. “His intuition produced each what he may wish to see in addition to what others would worth — like good beer and good espresso.”

“Starbucks Seattle PikePlace 1912,” picture by SilentDeath, CC BY-SA 4.0, through Wikimedia Commons. Exterior of the Pike Place Starbucks at 1912 Pike Place — the storefront generally known as the “Unique Starbucks.” (Observe: that is the second handle for the primary retailer; the unique 1971 location was at 2000 Western Ave.)

In response to Starbucks lore, Bowker and pal Terry Heckler, who have been companions in an promoting agency, got here up with the Starbucks title after batting round phrases starting with “St” then seeing the title “Starbo” on an outdated mining map. For Bowker, the title recalled the Starbuck character within the novel Moby Dick. From there, the model title and siren/nautical imagery have been born. 

Bowker, Baldwin and Siegl every acquired an expert training via apprenticeships with Alfred Peet — the founding father of Peet’s Espresso in Berkeley, California — whereas Peet provided Starbucks with espresso within the early days. 

Within the mid-Nineteen Eighties, Bowker and Baldwin led two pivotal transactions: Starbucks purchased Peet’s Espresso & Tea in 1984, and in 1987 they bought Starbucks to a gaggle led by Howard Schultz. To at the present time, Schultz is also known as the founding father of Starbucks, although he first joined the corporate in 1982. 

After exiting Starbucks, Bowker would later serve on Peet’s board for greater than a decade. 

Past espresso, Bowker co-founded Redhook Ale Brewery in 1981, serving to spur the early craft beer motion within the U.S. Moreover, via his promoting agency Heckler Bowker, he helped create the enduring Rainier Beer campaigns. Bowker was additionally an instrumental determine within the launch of Seattle Weekly.

Bowker is being remembered as an lively entrepreneur who relished good firm, good music and new concepts, whereas remaining a eager and insightful observer. 

“He had an innate potential to sense what was subsequent, and he was extremely articulate and analytical,” Baldwin instructed DCN. “We discovered to concentrate.”

Feedback? Questions? Information to share? Contact DCN’s editors right here. For all the newest espresso business information, subscribe to the DCN e-newsletter. 

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