Last Thursday marked the end of an era for Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX).
Howard Schultz, the man who took the company from a handful of stores in Seattle to the 25,000-store giant it is today, said he would be stepping down from the CEO role in April, leaving COO Kevin Johnson in charge of the company. Schultz will remain with Starbucks as executive chairman and chairman of the board, and will focus on the high-end Reserve brand, or the “premiumization” of Starbucks, as he calls it.