Starbucks North America CEO Michael Conway retires after five months in the role

Michael Conway at Starbucks’ 2022 Investor Day | Photo credit: Starbucks

Starbucks North America CEO Michael Conway has retired just five months after taking the post and a week after new CEO Brian Niccol announced plans to revive the coffee chain’s fortunes in the US. 
 

Conway joined Starbucks in 2013 and has held several senior leadership roles, including President of Starbucks Canada and President of International and Channel Development. 

In April 2024, Conway assumed the newly created North America CEO role as part of a new geographic leadership structure implemented by then CEO Laxman Narasimhan. The move saw Conway take responsibility for Starbucks’ 16,730 US stores and 1,468 sites in Canada and came as lower footfall and like-for-like sales in its home market contributed to a fall in second quarter sales and earnings. 

In an update to its website, Starbucks said Conway elected to retire from 16 September 2024 but will remain with the coffee chain as an Executive Advisor until 1 December 2024. 

Seattle-based Starbucks will not seek to replace Conway, according to a Reuters report, with North America President Sarah Trilling instead assuming his responsibilities and reporting directly to Niccol. 

Former Chipotle CEO Niccol became Starbucks CEO on 10 September 2024 and outlined a 100-day plan to re-centre the US coffee giant as a ‘welcoming coffeehouse’ by reducing menu complexity, improving customer experience and store efficiency. 

Narasimhan’s April 2024 leadership restructure also saw former Chief Marketing Officer Brady Brewer assume the role of Starbucks International CEO to lead Starbucks’ company-operated and licensed operations across Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Japan and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).