Starbucks announced a change in regional leadership on March 18th local time, appointing Michael Conway as the newly established CEO of North America, effective April 1st; Appoint Brady Brewer as the CEO of Starbucks International. Starbucks China Chairman and CEO Wang Jingying and Co CEO Liu Wenjuan will continue to lead the Starbucks China team. Starbucks plans to soon appoint a global brand creative executive. The company stated that three-quarters of its new stores plan to open outside the United States, with the goal of increasing the global number of stores to 55000.