Carrols Restaurant Group, Burger King’s largest franchisee, on Thursday named former Toys R Us executive Deborah Derby its new CEO.
Carrols, which operates 1,000 Burger King locations along with 65 Popeyes units, has been in need of a permanent CEO since the death of Paulo Pena on New Year's Eve. Anthony Hull, the company’s CFO, had served as interim CEO and will remain with the company.
Derby will take over on May 1.
Carrols is getting an experienced executive who spent 15 years with the toy retailer Toys R Us between 2000 and 2015. She served in various executive positions, including president of Babies R Us and vice chairman of Toys R Us. She then took a position as president of the wholesale craft component company Horizon Group until 2020. The 59-year-old has served as a director for multiple companies.
David Harris, chairman of the board at Carrols, said she has the “skills and experience necessary” to lead the company and “complement the strong management team and restaurant operations team we have in place.”
Carrols struggled in recent years as Burger King’s unit-level profitability plunged coming out of the pandemic. But the company’s profitability improved late last year and its stock price has nearly tripled this year as investors grow confident the worst is over for the Syracuse, N.Y.-based Carrols.
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