Starbucks Corp.'s SBUX, -1.14% Howard Schultz will step down as executive chairman and as member of the retailer's board at the end of the month, according to a memo from Schultz to employees late Monday. Shares of Starbucks fell more than 2% after the news, and they recently pared losses. Schultz is credited with taking the coffee giant from a local Seattle chain to a global powerhouse. He will become Starbucks' chairman emeritus on June 26. "As I prepare to step away, I'd like to humbly remind you not to lose sight of what matters most: your fellow partners and our customers," Schultz wrote. "Onward with love," he signed off. Starbucks last month closed for one afternoon for employee anti-bias training, after a video of two men being handcuffed and removed by at least six police officers from a Philadelphia Starbucks went viral in April. The men were waiting for a business associate.