When you think of coffee shops, you likely have to suppress the image of the black and white two-tailed mermaid on the Starbucks logo. With more than 24,000 stores across 70 countries, the siren's become kind of synonymous with hot java.

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But like many origin stories, Starbucks as we have come to know it almost never was. Imagine a world filled of coffee shops named ... Cargo House.

Co-founder and business aficionado Gordon Bowker sat down with the Seattle Times recently to discuss some of the lesser-known facts behind the mega-chain. Besides noting that he probably could have done it on his own, Bowker admitted that the multi-billion-dollar company almost had a much less pleasant name.

"It came desperately close to Cargo House," the co-founder said. The less catchy, less attractive name was ousted when Terry Heckler – with whom Bowker owned an advertising agency – said that words beginning in "st" are extra powerful. And so, they made a list of "st" words.

While brainstorming, an old mining town – near Washington state's Mount Rainier – named "Starbo" came to his attention. Being the avid reader he is, Bowker thought of Starbuck, a character in Herman Melville's book, Moby-Dick.

"It was only coincidental that it seemed to make sense," Bowker explained.