2024 Year in Review

Appointments, acquisitions and restaurant brand expansion plans make up many of the most-read FER news stories from the past year. The following list marks the Top 10:

Former Wendy’s CEO Starts Anew at Pizza Chain
Papa Johns (pictured above) named Todd Penegor its president and CEO in August. Penegor arrived from The Wendy’s Co., where he served as president and CEO until his departure in February. In Penegor, Papa Johns gained a restaurant industry veteran. While he was at Wendy’s, the company grew its sales, earnings and new restaurant counts.

Church’s Texas Chicken Opens New Doors
The brand made plans to launch a compact, 1,000-square-foot prototype during the year and aimed to use it to enter new areas. The design—measuring up to 700 square feet smaller than some existing stores—included state-of-the art equipment focused on higher efficiency/throughput, plus multiple guest queues and drive-thrus.

Popeyes Continues Expansion Plan in Europe
Popeyes said in February it would open its first restaurant in Italy in 2024. David Shear, president of international, Restaurant Brands Int’l., parent company of Popeyes, said the brand had ambitious expansion plans and was committed “to serving Popeyes bold Louisiana flavors to more guests around the world.”

TriMark Seats New CEO
Terry O’Brien became the CEO of TriMark in October following the resignation of Tom Wienclaw. In an interview with FER, O’Brien said his top priority was to deliver an even higher quality standard of service to existing customers and deepen the dealership’s partnership with vendors. It’s also back on the offense, pursuing acquisitions.

Ali Group North America Announces Rebrand
The company announced in March it would operate under the Welbilt name. It also named corporate executives of the newly formed group and group presidents, plus debuted a redesigned Welbilt logo that reflected the fusion of both companies’ cultures.

Freddy’s Adds 30-Plus Stores To Pipeline
The fast-casual concept Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers kicked off 2024 with an announcement that it had signed several multiunit development agreements. The deals would bring more than 30 new restaurants to New Mexico, Texas, Idaho, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arizona.

Cajun Chain Finds New President, COO
Cajun Steamer posted in September that Mike Turner, formerly of Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux, The Cheesecake Factory and Piccadilly Restaurants, had become its president and COO. Cajun Steamer is in Alabama and Tennessee, where it offers a menu featuring seafood, gumbo, poultry and po’boys.

Curtis Restaurant Equipment Announces Leadership Transition
The dealership announced a changing of the guard at the start of 2024. Dan Curtis, who began with the dealership in 1976, moved from the role of president to chairman of the board, and Ryan McPhail stepped into the role of president and CEO. McPhail most recently served as COO.

Singer Gains Ground Via Acquisition
In one of the biggest acquisitions of the year in the dealer community, Singer Equipment Co. acquired the business of Hotel & Restaurant Supply. The division operates under the name Singer H&R. Mason Greene and Marcus Lyon, both executives at H&R Supply, stepped into leadership roles at Singer H&R.

Edward Don & Company Highlights Promotions, Changes
Edward Don & Company made a slew of promotions and organizational changes within its sales and merchandising departments over the summer. To start, Pete Angenend, Roger Mellum and Wendy Abney became vice presidents of field sales, national account sales, and merchandising, marketing and ecommerce, respectively.

FER news stories that almost made the Top 10 list included Pepper Lunch, a Japanese-based fast-casual concept, signing an agreement to open its first Florida location; Easy Ice picking up Armadillo Service Co.; Zaxby’s opening its first stores in Maryland and Zepole Supply Co. acquiring Fein Brothers.