The Humble Beginnings of Mega Chain Stores

"In this era of strip malls and outlet stores it's getting difficult to tell one suburban community from another. Some people might like the fact that you can hardly tell your hometown from a city across the country or even in another part of the world, but it wasn't always like this. All these ubiquitous chains started somewhere with only one location, so if you ever wanted to know where to go to shake your fist in the air to curse the strip-malling of America, these 15 locations below would be a good start."

"...Inspired by Dutch immigrant Alfred Peet, who opened a small coffee bean store in Berkeley, California in 1966, three friends opened the first Starbucks in 1971 at 2000 Western Avenue, just a block away from the famous Pike Place Market in Seattle."