Starbucks Shakes Up Retail Ranks

Starbucks (Seattle) Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol continues to make big changes at the coffee giant as part of his revitalization program, announcing the hire of two stores executives who spent time at his one-time employer, Taco Bell – and the exit of a pair of executives that previously held those posts.

“As we focus on our ‘Back to Starbucks’ plan, we need a new operating model for our retail team, with clear ownership and accountability and an appropriate scope for each role,” Niccol wrote in an email to the company’s workforce. “As we’ve had conversations about what the new model means for their existing roles, Sara Trilling and Arthur Valdez have made the decision to leave Starbucks.”

In their places, he hired the following executives for these newly reconfigured positions:

• Mike Grams, who will take on the role of EVP, North America Chief Stores Officer. Grams joins Starbucks after more than 30 years at Taco Bell, most recently serving as President and COO. (Taco Bell is a unit of Yum!, where Niccol worked before joining Chipotle in 2018. He worked at the latter firm until leaving for Starbucks’ top job last summer.) In his new role, Grams is responsible for Starbucks’ retail teams and store performance.

• Meredith Sandland will take on the role of EVP, Chief Store Development officer. Sandland currently serves as CEO of Empower Delivery, a software company that works to optimize restaurants for modern omnichannel demands. Her experience includes serving as COO at Kitchen United, Chief Development Officer at Taco Bell and restaurant industry consultant at Bain & Co. In her new post, she is responsible for Starbucks’ store development strategy and store design.

In addition, Niccol said the company has identified a new EVP, Chief Supply Chain Officer, who will be introduced in the near future.

A few hours after the above message was released, Starbucks posted its first quarter 2025 results, which showed it had topped Wall Street’s estimates for its quarterly earnings and revenue, but also saw its same-store sales slide for the fourth consecutive quarter.

“While we’re only one quarter into our turnaround, we’re moving quickly to act on the ‘Back to Starbucks’ efforts and we’ve seen a positive response,” Niccol said in the earnings release. “We believe this is the fundamental change in strategy needed to solve our underlying issues, restore confidence in our brand and return the business to sustainable, long-term growth.”