Starbucks used to be a Seattle-based high end coffee supplier — until Howard Schultz ducked out from an industry conference in Milan in 1983.

Everywhere he went, he ran into cafés. 

"There were 1,500 alone in the city of Milan, a city the size of Philadelphia," he said. "They were on every street corner, and all were packed."

Why were they packed? Not just because of the latté — which Schultz dubbed the "perfect drink" — but because he realized coffee was supposed to be enjoyed communally. 

Starbucks, he realized, would be a place people could gather.

"It was like an epiphany," he said.