When Howard Schultz initially proposed to buy Starbucks from its founders, the chain had three stores; he had a plan to expand to 150 stores. Today Starbucks has more than 22,000 stores and is now opening in Italy — a lifelong dream for Schultz.
When Leslie Wexner opened his first store, he hoped he could expand to a three- or four-store chain to achieve economies of scale. Today he leads an enterprise that has cumulatively created over 10,000 stores. His prize, Victoria’s Secret, will generate $8 billion in revenue this year and operates in a dozen countries.
