Howard Schultz stepping down as Starbucks CEO

Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz announced yesterday he would step down from the CEO role next year to focus on a new position in the company.

Schultz instead will focus on turning Starbucks' Reserve-branded coffee bars into destination restaurants. The company's first Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room opened in 2014 in Seattle. The stores are much larger than a traditional Starbucks cafe and allow the company to do small-batch roastings of "rare and exotic" Reserve coffees.

Kevin Johnson, the current president and chief operating officer of Starbucks, will step into the CEO role on April 3.

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