Dive Brief:
- Rosalind "Roz" Brewer, Starbucks' chief operating officer and group president, Americas, will resign from her position effective Feb. 26, according to an SEC filing posted Tuesday. She also will resign from her position on the board of directors on Feb. 26. Brewer will become the CEO of Walgreens, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- Brewer's responsibilities will be spread among existing executives. Rossann Williams, executive vice president, president U.S. company-owned business and Canada, will be responsible for U.S. licensed stores, Latin America, global supply chain and global store concepts/area transformation businesses. Brady Brewer, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, will lead technology, analytics and insights and innovation culture and methodologies.
- The departure of Starbucks' COO comes less than a month after Patrick Grismer, executive vice president and chief financial officer, announced his retirement effective Feb. 1. Rachel Ruggeri, currently senior vice president of finance for Starbucks Americas, will replace him.
Dive Insight:
Brewer's departure from Starbucks will likely leave a dent in its leadership, especially because the coffee chain doesn't appear to be replacing her. Brewer has been in her role since 2017 and under her leadership, the company shifted to a to-go model during the pandemic and has been increasingly focused on improving diversity in its ranks, according to The Wall Street Journal. In October, the company said it would tie executive pay to reaching diversity goals to create more accountability.
One of the biggest shifts the company has made during the pandemic was adding curbside pickup to U.S. locations, with plans to reach 2,000 locations last year, as a way to boost mobile orders and ease drive-thru times.
The company also began to plot out aggressive plans to increase its store count from 33,000 units to 55,000 units by 2030 despite the company closing about 800 stores, including 400 in the U.S. The company is shifting the focus of its future units to smaller formats, including ones with drive-thru-only capabilities. Starbucks also unveiled its first pick-up-only location in 2019 in New York City and has plans to add more of these types of units in metro areas.
Although the company is undergoing two major C-suite changes in a short period of time, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson expressed confidence in the new leadership plan.
"These three talented leaders have more than 45 years of Starbucks experience and we will not miss a beat. … I am excited about our next phase of Starbucks' growth together," Johnson said on Tuesday during the company's fiscal Q1 2021 earnings call.
