Personnel Updates
• Black Bear Diners Inc. (18) has promoted Anita Adams to CFO and President. Steve Standlea is now the company’s COO.
• Bojangles’ Restaurants Inc. (33) has named Jackie Woodward as its new Chief Marketing Officer. She succeeds Randy Poindexter who announced that he would retire on Aug. 1.
• CKE Restaurants Inc. (58) has promoted Ned Lyerly to CEO, succeeding Jason Marker.
• Dickey’s Barbecue Pit Restaurants Inc. (19) has promoted Jay Rooney to the position of CFO, a new role at the company.
• Doctor’s Associates Inc. (88) has named Mike Macrie as Subway’s new CIO.
• Dutch Bros. Coffee (16) announced the company’s first Chief Marketing Officer, Rick Anguilla.
• El Pollo Loco Inc. (20) announced Miguel Lozano will join the company as COO. He replaces Gus Siade, former Senior VP of Operations.
• Farmer Boys Food Inc. (13) has appointed Arlene Estrada Petokas as its new VP and Chief People Officer.
• Fuzzy’s Taco Shop (20) has named Michael Mabry as its first Fuzzy’s Taco Shop.
• Inspire Brands (21) has named Raghu Sagi as its new CIO. He replaces Darla Morse, who is leaving to become CIO at CKE Restaurants.
• Kona Grill Inc. (9) announced its CEO Marcus Jundt is resigning. The company has named CFO Christi Hing as interim CEO.
• Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. (45) has promoted Edward Gleich to the new position of Chief Innovation Officer.
• Modern Restaurant Concepts (9) has promoted VP of Operations Robin Robison to COO of Modern Market Eatery.
• The ONE Group LLC (16) has promoted Tyler Loy to the position of CFO. He replaces interim CFO Linda Siluk, who was named Chief Administrative Officer.
• Papa John’s International Inc. (32) announced the appointment of Karlin Linhardt as the chain’s new Chief Marketing Officer.
• Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (27) announced Beverly Carmichael its Chief People, Culture and Resource Officer has resigned. The company also said Denny Marie Post was retiring as President and CEO, and board chair Pattye Moore would serve as Interim CEO.
• Salata Inc. (7) announced it has named David Wheeler to the newly created position of Chief Development Officer.
• Stoner’s Pizza Joint (4) has named Glenn Cybulski as the brand’s new President and Chief Culinary Officer.
• Trader Vic’s Restaurants Inc. (6) has promoted Rhett Rosen to the role of CEO.
• True Food Kitchen (38) announced it has named Shannon Keller as it’s the first-ever Chief Marketing Officer.
• Union Square Hospitality Group (58) has named Chip Wade President of the company.
• Vitality Bowls (5) has named Dave Malinowski as COO.
Mergers & Acquisitions
• Bessemer Investment Partners LLC has acquired 73 Taco Bell restaurants in Texas as part of an asset sale with Houston-based KorMex Foods.
• CEC Entertainment Inc. has agreed to merge with Leo Holdings Corp. with the intent of going public again later this year.
• McDonald’s Corporation announced it has purchased Dynamic Yield Ltd., a technology company that specializes in personalization and decision logic technology.
• Papa Murphy’s International Inc. announced a merger with Canadian franchisor MTY Food Group Inc.
Industry Insight
• Bloomin’ Brands Inc. expects to open the first U.S. unit of Aussie Grill, a fast-casual food-court version of its casual-dining Outback Steakhouse in Tampa, FL this month.
Real Estate
• Domino’s Pizza Inc. has announced the launch of its 10,000th international store.
• FIC Restaurants recently closed 23 corporate-owned Friendly’s restaurants leaving the chain with 174 locations. The closures included 14 restaurants in New York, three in Massachusetts, three in Connecticut, two in New Hampshire and one in Maine.
Just because we don’t mention it here doesn’t mean it didn’t happen – or we didn’t capture it. In the past four weeks, we’ve updated more than 1,066 companies in the Restaurant Franchisee Premier Database, with many of those companies’ records updated at multiple points.
