Starbucks has replaced CEO Jim Donald with founder and chairman Howard Schultz and said it would slow an aggressive US expansion.
The move marks a return to daily management for Mr Schultz, who is seen as the conscience of the company and warned executives a year ago that Starbucks was losing its way.
Mr Schultz, who was chief executive from 1987 to 2000, said Starbucks would close underperforming US outlets and speed up international growth.
Investors have nearly halved the value of the world's biggest coffee chain to $13 billion in the last year in the midst of weakened US sales growth.
In August, Mr Donald, became Starbucks CEO in 2005, said a pullback in consumer spending due to a weakened economy was one reason why customer traffic rose a disappointing less than 1 percent in the previous quarter.
Concerns about slowing US sales growth, soaring dairy prices, and competition from fast-food rivals such as McDonald's have dogged Starbucks for some time.
