Bruegger’s Bagels has named bagel-market veteran Paul Carolan as its new president, filling a longstanding vacancy
Carolan was previously chief development officer for Bruegger’s parent company, Le Duff America, which also owns the la Madeleine, Brioche Doree, Mimi’s Café and Brioche Doree restaurant bands.
Earlier, he held development posts at Sun Capital, the private equity giant that owns several dozen restaurant chains, and one of its key holdings, Einstein Noah Restaurant Group. The group has three bagel chains: Einstein Bros., Noah’s New York Bagels and Manhattan Bagel, all of which compete with 300-unit Bruegger’s.
Prior to Carolan’s promotion, Bruegger’s had been led by Le Duff America CEO Claude Bergeron. David Austin had resigned the post of president in mid-2013 but continued to work with Le Duff on special projects.
The announcement of Carolan’s new job coincides with the move of Bruegger’s to Le Duff America’s headquarters in Dallas, from Vermont.
Bergeron noted in the announcement that Carolan brings “cross-functional development and operations expertise” to his new role, along with relations to potential franchisees, investors and real estate companies.
“We are at an important moment in the history of Bruegger’s Bagels and Paul is the right leader to take us into the future,” he said.
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