- Starbucks' ex-CEO, Howard Schultz, told Fortune he trusts successor Brian Niccol to revitalize the company.
- Niccol plans a back-to-basics strategy as the coffee chain faces low sales.
Brian Niccol knew when he took over in September as the new CEO of Starbucks that the company was facing slumping sales, decreased traffic, and something of an identity crisis.
But the recent rollout of his new back-to-basics strategy has earned the support of one man who knows something about steering the beloved coffeehouse brand to success: Howard Schultz.
Schultz, the chairman emeritus and former CEO of Starbucks, told Fortune in an interview that he has total faith in Niccol taking the helm of the international coffee chain — though he's always available to offer the new CEO advice or guidance.
Niccol has big shoes to fill as he steps in for Schultz, who has been described as the "Ray Kroc of his generation" for his role in the coffee giant's rapid expansion. He first became Starbucks' CEO in 1986 before leaving in 2000. He returned to the role during the 2008 financial crisis, departing again in 2017. In 2022, he came out of retirement to serve as interim CEO of the company. During his on-again, off-again tenure, Schultz grew the chain from 11 stores to 35,000 locations worldwide.
Niccol's first earnings call, held October 30 for the company's Q4 results, included numbers indicating that Starbucks continues struggling to get customers in the door — with traffic declining across all distribution channels and revenue down 3% from the prior year. The company's stock is also down more than 3% compared to last year at this time.
During the Q4 call, Niccol laid out his plan to get Starbucks "back to our core identity and consistently deliver a great experience" so "our customers will come back." He said the company will bring back its condiment bar so customers can dress their own coffees, and return to the Sharpie era where baristas hand-wrote customer names on their iconic white and green cups.
Though Schultz has twice before left and then returned as CEO of Starbucks, he told Fortune there's no chance he'll reprise his role again.
Representatives for Starbucks and the Schultz Family Foundation, of which Howard Schultz is a cofounder, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.