Business & brands
Rosalind Brewer
born 1962
· business executive, former CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance and Sam's Club
Detroit-born, Cass Tech–educated chemist who became CEO of Sam's Club, COO of Starbucks and the first woman to lead Walgreens Boots Alliance.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Birth name
- Rosalind G. Brewer
- Also known as
- Roz Brewer
- Detroit years
- 1962–1980
- Field
- Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Brewer was born in Detroit in 1962, the youngest of five children in a family whose generation was the first to attend college. She graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1980 and earned a chemistry degree at Spelman College in Atlanta. She started as a research technician at Kimberly-Clark and rose over 22 years to lead a manufacturing and technology division. She then joined Walmart, became CEO of Sam's Club in 2012, the first woman and first African American to head a Walmart division, and in 2017 became group president and chief operating officer of Starbucks. From 2021 to 2023 she was CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, at the time the only Black woman leading a Fortune 500 company. She has also served as chair of Spelman's board of trustees.
Highlights
- Graduated from Cass Technical High School in Detroit, 1980
- CEO of Sam's Club, 2012–2017
- COO of Starbucks, 2017–2021
- CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, 2021–2023
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · until 1980
Cass Technical High School
She graduated from Detroit's selective technical high school in 1980.