Executive Movements — September 2008
MINNEAPOLIS — GRANITE CITY FOOD & BREWERY has promoted DARIUS GILANFAR to chief operating officer. He replaces Tim Cary, who resigned. Gilanfar, a veteran of Cheesecake Factory and Brinker International, was hired last September as senior vice president of operations for the 25-unit brewpub chain. His successor in that post is ERIC LACLAIR, who was district operator. Granite City also said it had expanded the role of chief financial officer JIM GILBERTSON to include oversight of IT and construction functions at the company.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Former Red Lobster president EDNA MORRIS has joined CITYRANGE STEAKHOUSE GRILL here as a partner in the casual-dining restaurant, which she helped devise while working for the company that is now Denny’s Inc. The announcement effectively confirmed that Morris no longer is divisional president of BLUE CORAL SEAFOOD & SPIRITS, the upscale concept by Paul Fleming and Bill Allen that Outback Steakhouse parent OSI RESTAURANT PARTNERS launched last year. It was not known when Morris left Blue Coral, whose two locations she opened in Newport Beach and La Jolla, Calif. A call to OSI’s Tampa, Fla., headquarters was not returned. CityRange did not reveal how much of a stake Morris holds in the company or what role she would have in the concept’s rollout. CityRange said it plans to duplicate the steakhouse within a 300-mile radius of the Greenville prototype.
NEW ORLEANS — EMERIL’S HOMEBASE here, the owner of chef EMERIL LAGASSE’s 10 restaurants, said DAVID MCCELVEY has rejoined the company as vice president of operations and culinary. McCelvey most recently was executive director of culinary at Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. Before joining Chipotle, he worked for 15 years with Lagasse, developing restaurants in New Orleans, Florida, Las Vegas and Gulfport, Miss. As previously reported, Emeril’s Homebase also has hired Darden Restaurants veteran DOUG DORAN as director of operations for its Florida restaurants.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The 20-unit ROOSTERS casual-dining chain has hired TANNY FEERER as vice president of purchasing. Previously, Feerer was vice president of purchasing for Damon’s Grill. He also was a Damon’s franchisee and a meat distributor executive.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — COMPASS GROUP NORTH AMERICA has appointed AMY KNEPP senior vice president of its strategic alliance group, with responsibility for retaining the contract feeder’s top 800 accounts. The appointment is effective Sept. 1. Knepp, a 19-year foodservice veteran, joined Compass in 1995 as director of business development after stints at Marriott Management Services and Host International. According to Nation’s Restaurant News research, Compass Group North America had U.S. food and beverage sales of $7.4 billion in 2007.
IRVING, Texas — Former Jamba Juice chief financial officer DON BREEN will take on the CFO role at the 70-unit CHEDDAR’S CASUAL CAFE chain here, beginning in September, Breen said in an e-mail. Cheddar’s is a privately held company co-owned by the investment firms Oak Investment Partners and Catterton Partners. Cheddar’s has restaurants in 16 states. Jamba said earlier this month that Breen would be leaving to pursue another opportunity. At the same time, the company announced that chief executive and president Paul Clayton had resigned but gave no reason for his exit.
DENVER — QUIZNOS chief executive GREG BRENNEMAN will become executive chairman, and president DAVE DENO will take on the additional title of CEO beginning Sept. 30, the company said Tuesday. The shift in leadership is not expected to change the strategic direction of the more than 4,000-unit sandwich chain, which is focused on improving franchisee profitability and expanding internationally, Brenneman and Deno said in a conference call. Deno, former chief operating officer and chief financial officer at Yum! Brands Inc., was named Quiznos’ president last year. He had served on the chain’s board and was a managing director of CCMP CAPITAL ADVISORS LLC, a private-equity firm that has a stake in Quiznos. CCMP jointly owns the sandwich brand, along with J.P. Morgan Partners LLC and Brenneman’s firm, TurnWorks Inc. Brenneman, who is credited with turning around Continental Airlines and Burger King, had been Quiznos’ chief executive for the past 18 months. On Tuesday, he also was named chairman and a managing director of CCMP Capital, in addition to his appointment as executive chairman of Quiznos. Franchisee profits have improved over the past year and a half, but they could be higher, Brenneman said. He said the company’s push into delivery and catering and improved pricing should continue to help franchisees. About half of Quiznos’ units offer delivery.
DALLAS — BENNIGAN’S FRANCHISING CO. LP, which is leading the Bennigan’s franchise community following the bankruptcy filing of brand owner S&A Restaurant Co. last month, has retained industry veterans DOUG BENHAM and VINCE RUNCO to assist in setting up support systems. Benham, the former president and chief executive of Arby’s, is serving as a board-level adviser. Runco, a former president and chief executive of S&A parent Metromedia Restaurant Group, is serving in those same roles on an interim basis for Bennigan’s Franchising. About 132 franchised Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern units remain open following the Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing of S&A, with franchisees looking to buy 30 to 60 of the roughly 200 Bennigan’s and Steak and Ale corporate units that were shuttered.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — CHRIS PRASIFKA has resigned as president of KAHALA FRANCHISE CORP. just four months after being promoted to the post. Spokeswoman Kate Guess said Prasifka’s resignation was due to personal matters and that the position was “not being refilled at this time.” Kahala Franchise Corp. is the franchising division of Kahala Corp., which includes such concepts as Blimpie, Cold Stone Creamery and Cereality. Guess said Kahala Corp.’s executive team was being expanded and would advise all the company’s brands.
SAN ANTONIO — TIM TAFT, the new chief executive of SOUPER SALAD INC., said he has spent the past month and a half inspecting the company’s 151-unit Souper Salad and GRANDY’S chains and getting ideas for improvement. Souper Salad announced Taft’s appointment Wednesday, but he said he has been working in the post since June 30. Taft most recently was president and CEO of the 350-unit Pizza Inn Inc. “Both [Souper Salad and Grandy’s] have unbelievable followings,” Taft said. “I think they’ve been marketed ineffectively. ... We’ve got a good number of strong franchisees that produce great numbers in their restaurants. Some of the restaurants have become dated.” One of Grandy’s units is being remodeled in the Dallas area, and Taft said he expects newer versions to be smaller than existing stores.
LOS ANGELES — RON GRAVES has been named chief executive of the PINKBERRY frozen yogurt chain, after serving as interim CEO for months, the company said Tuesday. Graves was named interim CEO in October 2007, when Pinkberry received a $27.5 million investment by Seattle-based venture capital firm Maveron LLC, which was co-founded by Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz. Pinkberry founders Shelly Hwang and Young Lee retained a significant ownership stake after the investment. Hwang oversees product development, and Lee is in charge of store design. Graves, formerly a general partner in Maveron, plans to build an executive team that will help the chain grow domestically and internationally. Founded in 2005 in Los Angeles, the Pinkberry chain has grown to 60 units in Southern California and New York.
SAN DIEGO — JACK IN THE BOX INC. said DAVID M. THENO, the quick-service company´s high-profile food safety chief, would retire on Sept. 28. Theno´s duties as senior vice president and chief product safety officer will be split between ANN MARIE MCNAMARA, who recently joined the company as division vice president of food safety, and DEREK WALKER, who was hired in May as division vice president of research and development. Theno joined the company in 1993 in the midst of a five-state E. coli outbreak that was traced to the concern´s namesake burger chain. Theno, a well-known food safety consultant at the time, was called in by Jack in the Box to allay the crisis and restore the chain´s reputation as a safe place to eat. Theno´s efforts were hailed by the industry and consumer advocacy groups as a major step forward in safety, for the whole restaurant business as well as the Jack in the Box chain.
INDIANAPOLIS — STEAK N SHAKE CO. said that WAYNE L. KELLEY resigned Aug. 4 as interim chief executive, and chairman SARDAR BIGLARI has taken over the CEO role. The change continues a shakeup that began in June when Biglari assumed the chairmanship, a few months after he won a seat on Steak n Shake´s board in a proxy fight. Interim president Jeffrey A. Blade quit the 491-unit family-dining chain July 11, and chief marketing officer Steven Schiller left later last month. Biglari also is chairman of Western Sizzlin Corp.
EMERYVILLE, Calif. — JAMBA INC. CEO and president PAUL CLAYTON resigned and was replaced by board chairman STEVEN BERRARD. No reason was given. In addition, DONALD BREEN, the smoothie chain´s chief financial officer and senior vice president, resigned to pursue another unspecified opportunity, company officials said. KAREN LUEY, vice president, controller and principal accounting officer, will replace Breen on an interim basis. The 736-unit JAMBA JUICE chain has been struggling with declining sales, particularly in California, where housing woes and high gas prices have dampened consumer spending. Earlier this year Jamba said it would eliminate 53 jobs to reorganize support staff, close 10 underperforming stores, and terminate leases on seven planned openings. Eight of the underperforming stores closed July 15. Preliminary results for the quarter ended July 15 showed same-store sales falling 7.3 percent for company stores, on top of a year-earlier drop of 3.5 percent. Quarterly earnings are to be released Aug. 21.
RICHARDSON, Texas — Investor HENRY LEONARD has succeeded founder RANDY DEWITT as chief executive of 14-unit ROCKFISH SEAFOOD GRILL LLC following the chain´s acquisition by Leonard and Charter Private Equity LP of Dallas, White Oak Capital Partners LP of Dallas and Capital Point Partners of Houston. Terms were not disclosed.
Ruth's Hospitality Group, Inc. Announces Appointment of New President and Chief Executive Officer. The Board of Directors of Ruth's Hospitality Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: RUTH) announced the appointment of Michael P. O'Donnell as President and Chief Executive Officer. In his new role, O'Donnell will be responsible for the overall strategic and operational direction of the company. Mr. O'Donnell's most recent leadership experience includes serving as the Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board of Champps Entertainment, Inc., an experience that culminated in the successful sale of the company to Fox and Hound Restaurant Group in late 2007. Prior to that, he held the position of President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Sbarro, Inc, where he was responsible for all operational and strategic aspects of managing more than 1,000 restaurants including Sbarro, Boulder Creek Steak & Saloon, Rothmann's Steakhouse and Carmela's of Brooklyn brands, in 46 states and 34 countries.