Focus Brands on Wednesday promoted Shelley Harris to president of the company’s restaurants category while William Armstrong was named chief brand officer for the Schlotzsky’s sandwich concept.
Harris had been SVP of operations for the restaurant category, which features Moe’s Southwest Grill, Schlotzsky’s and McAlister’s Deli.
She has worked with the Atlanta-based Focus for six years. The company gave her credit for helping guide it through organizational changes to “leverage the scale of the portfolio of brands.” She also led the operations team to improve service and franchisee unit economics. Harris spent 13 years with Burger King before she joined Focus.
William Armstrong joined Focus from Wendy’s, where he was head of international operations. He has worked for various brands in his career, including McDonald’s and Yum Brands.
William Armstrong/Photo courtesy of Focus Brands.
“The success of our restaurant brands is imperative to the success of the company overall,” Focus CEO Jim Holthouser said in a statement. “With these two leaders working alongside existing talent, I am incredibly confident in the future.”
Focus is the franchisor of several concepts that overall feature more than 6,000 locations. In addition to the restaurants, the company operates Jamba, Auntie Anne’s, Carvel and Cinnabon.
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