Personnel Updates:

Accor terminated its Chairman/CEO Denis Hennequin “with immediate effect.”

American Blue Ribbon Holdings has named Bill Streitberger as its Chief People Officer; he was most recently at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc.

Arby’s Restaurant Group hired Paul Brown as CEO; he was most recently at Hilton Worldwide.

Boston’s hired Brad Bevill as VP of Marketing.

Bruegger’s Bagels President David Austin resigned effective the end of April.

Bruster’s Real Ice Cream named Michael Branigan as VP of Marketing and Product Innovation.

Burger King Worldwide announced a series of moves at the executive level, effective on or before 7/1/13: Bernardo Hees will leave his role as CEO but will be appointed Vice Chairman; Daniel Schwartz was named COO and will be appointed CEO; Joshua Kobza will succeed Mr. Schwartz as CFO; Steve Wilborg was promoted to Chairman, North America; Alex Macedo was appointed President, North America; Rodrigo Musiello is now Exec VP of Global Operations; and Jose Dias is Exec VP of Global Development and President Latin America and the Caribbean.

Capriotti’s hired J.D. Vukasin as Controller and Susan Harrison as Director of Supply Chain and Quality Assurance.

Concessions International promoted LeMonica Hakeem to VP of Business Development.

Cowboy Chicken named Kathy Davidson as Director of Franchise Development.

Doctor’s Associates (dba Subway) named Suzanne Greco as VP of Operations, in addition to her role as VP of R&D; Wendy Maduff joined the company as Director of Global Product Safety.

Fiesta Restaurant Group hired Ed Carnevale as VP of Construction Services.

Firehouse Subs announced the following promotions: Meg Rose to VP of Field Operations, Mike Branson to Director of Company Operations, Mary Rawlins to VP of Financial Services, Sheri Kohler to Corporate Controller, Kristen Moore to Director of Franchise Administration, Marisa Burton to Director of Field Marketing Services, Danny Walsh to Senior Financial Reporting Manager, Jeremy Gibeault to Senior Manager of Information Systems, Scott Schalk to Manager of Communications, and Lindsay Milton to Manager of Franchise Administration.

Galardi Group founder and Chairman John Galardi passed away.

Good Times Restaurants hired Scott Somes as COO of Bad Daddy’s Franchise Development.

Ignite Restaurant Group named David Catalano as President of its Macaroni Grill operations.

International House of Pancakes named Marie Grimm as VP Culinary Innovation.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts named Deepak Sarin as COO of JHM Interstate India Hotels & Resorts.

Loews Hotels & Resorts promoted Richard Senechal to Exec VP of facilities and appointed John Hackett as VP of Transient Sales.

Marco’s Pizza promoted Bryon Stephens to COO.

Marriott International appointed Stephanie Linnartz as Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer.

McDonald’s Corp. is bringing back Steve Easterbrook as Exec VP/Global Brand Officer.

Meatheads hired Jason Harbison as its Director of Operations.

Metz Culinary Management hired Jack Brill as VP of Business Development for the company’s Southern accounts.

Mimi’s Café named Scott Miller VP of Finance.

Mohegan Sun promoted Jeff Hamilton to VP of Human Resources.

Newk’s named Alan Wright as VP of Marketing; he was most recently at The Krystal Company.

Panera Bread Co. announced that co-CEO Bill Moreton will transition to Executive Vice Chairman on 8/1/13; Ron Shaich will become sole CEO.

Pinnacle Entertainment appointed Chris Corrado as VP and General Manager of Retama Park Racetrack.

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers reported the 6/3/13 resignation of Senior VP/Chief Legal Officer Annita M. Menogan.

Smashburger hired Audra Wosik as Director of Franchise Sales in Canada.

Smith & Wollensky Group appointed Joe O’Brien as National Director of Operations; he was previously with Charlie Palmer Group.

Soupman Inc. hired Lloyd Sugarman as CEO.

Starbucks Coffee Company named Matthew Ryan as Global Chief Strategy Officer and Sharon Rothstein as Global Chief Marketing Officer.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced that Roeland Vos, President of its EAME region, will transition to a consulting role effective 6/1/13; Michael Wale will succeed Vos in the position.

Taco John’s International named Jeff Linville as CEO; he was previously at Arby’s Restaurant Group.

The Broadmoor named Nicole Northrop-Jost as Director of National Sales.

The Marcus Corp. reported the upcoming September retirement of Bruce Olson, President of Marcus Theatres.

The Wendy’s Company announced that Todd Penegor will join Wendy’s in June.  Following a transition period, Penegor will succeed Steve Hare as CFO/Senior VP on September 1 and Hare will retire from the company.

TriMark USA announced the following promotions: Mark Fishman to Exec VP to oversee marketing and IT; Steve Fishman to Corporate VP of Vendor Programs; Tom Wienclaw to President of TriMark SS Kemp.

Twin Peaks hired Patrick Droesch as President/COO; he was most recently at Lone Star Management.

Umami Restaurant Group named Trevor Sacco as VP of Restaurant Operations.

White Lodging promoted Dave Montrose and Michelle Steffens to Senior Regional VPs for select-service.

Wingstop named Ted Leovich as VP of International Operations.

Wyndham Hotel Group appointed Kathy Maher to be Senior VP Revenue Management; she was most recently at Hilton Worldwide.

Wynn Resorts reported the 6/1/13 retirement of COO Marc D. Schorr.

Financial Focus:

Century Casinos reported net operating revenue of $71,828,000 for the year ending 12/31/12.

Firehouse Subs reported systemwide sales of $385 million in 2012.

Granite City Food & Brewery moved to the OTCQB market from NASDAQ.

SPoT Coffee (Canada) Ltd. reported revenue of $6,818,829 for the year ended 12/31/12.

Mergers & Acquisitions:

Bow Tie Cinemas agreed to acquire Clearview Cinemas from Cablevision Systems; no terms were disclosed.

Burger King Worldwide sold its Burger King Restaurants of Canada subsidiary to Redberry Investments Corp.

Churchill Downs Incorporated announced that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Oxford Casino (Oxford) in Oxford, ME. The transaction is anticipated to close in the fourth-quarter of 2013.

Golden State Foods acquired a McDonald’s distribution center in Lebanon IL.

Ignite Restaurant Group finalized its acquisition of Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

Industry Insight:

Baskin-Robbins signed a master licensing agreement to develop the brand in the Philippines; 50 locations are planned over the next five years.

Caribou Coffee closed 80 stores nationwide and will rebrand another 88 as Peet’s Coffee & Tea; Caribou is leaving markets in OH, MI, PA, MD, VA, GA, IL, eastern WI, and DC.

Chuck E. Cheese’s opened its first restaurant in Panama.

CKE Restaurants entered into an agreement to open the first Carl’s Jr. restaurant in Denmark; it will be located inside a Bilka hypermarket.

Cold Stone Creamery opened locations in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and is planning locations for the Philippines and Bangladesh.

Fatburger opened its first location in Beirut Lebanon.

MHI Hospitality Corp. is changing the company name to SoTHERLY Hotels Inc.

Newk’s Café has changed its restaurant name to Newk’s Eatery.

Perky’s Pizza will be expanding into Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Starbucks agreed to let Mexico restaurant operator Alsea to take control of the chain’s Mexican stores; Alsea will also open 50 new Starbucks a year for the next five years. Starbucks also plans to open 100 stores in Indonesia over the next three years and another 100 locations in the Philippines over the next four years.

Strings Restaurant in Denver, CO, closed 4/30, after more than 25 years in business.

The Society for Foodservice Management will become the Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management, effective 10/1/13.

Wingstop will develop 20 locations in Singapore.

WOW Café & Wingery is rebranding as WOW Café: American Grill & WIngery.

Real Estate:

Barberitos Franchising signed for five more locations in FL and GA.

Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza signed a franchise agreement for 10 locations in central and northern NJ.

Checkers plans to add 22 new units in the New York City area by 2015.

Chick-fil-A expects to open 85 new restaurants this year.

Dunkin’ Donuts is planning to expand the concept throughout CA, starting in the southern part of the state.

Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers opened its first locations in FL and UT.

Golden Chick opened its first location in SC.

La Madeleine is planning to open up to eight new franchised locations in the Baltimore area.

Little Greek is opening its third location in TX.

MOOYAH opened its first location in WA.

New Miami Subs Grill plans to open 58 restaurants in HI in addition to 56 locations in the Middle East.

Salsarita’s planned to have four new locations in the Chattanooga, TN, area by 4/17.

Saxbys Coffee will open 13 locations this year, many of them in the Philadelphia market (NJ and PA); others will open in NC, DC, and OH.

Smoothie King Franchises is targeting St. Louis for franchise expansion.

The Fuzzy Peach signed franchise agreements for locations in AR, FL, OH, PA, SC, and WV.

Tilted Kilt is expanding into northern CA through a franchisee agreement for 10 restaurants over the next five years.

Tropical Smoothie Café expects to open 40 locations in 2013.

Twisted Root Burger plans to add five locations this year and at least two in 2014.

Zaxby’s is targeting markets in AR, MO, MS, OK, and TX for future growth.

Green Initiatives:

Good Earth Coffeehouse and Bakery is partnering with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) to raise funds for NCC’s conservation work in Canada.

Tim Hortons opened its first LEED Certified restaurant in Hamilton, ON.

Yum! Brands has set a goal of purchasing paper-based packaging with fiber from responsibly managed forests and recycled sources. The company says it will publish a detailed procurement policy with public targets to achieve its sustainable paper goals by 2014. Yum! has already developed sustainable sourcing principles and says it will ensure that paper and paper-based packaging products it buys do not knowingly come from illegal or other unwanted fiber sources. Additionally, the principles give preference to suppliers that source wood fiber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council or other third-party.