Wingstop is shaking up its C-suite, promoting Michael Skipworth, formerly CFO, to president and chief operating officer. The fast-casual wing chain also elevated Alex Kaleida to the top finance post.
Skipworth, who has been with the Dallas-based chain since December 2014, succeeds Mahesh Sadarangani as COO after he resigned to take a CEO position.
Kaleida, who has had leadership roles at Wendy’s and Kraft Heinz Company, joined Wingstop in 2019 as vice president of financial planning and analysis.
“I’m thrilled to provide amazing growth opportunities within our organization for both Michael and Alex, Wingstop CEO Charlie Morrison said in a statement. “This enables us to promote from within, which equates to amazing opportunities and continued growth for our Wingstop team members.”
Skipworth worked with Morrison in 2015 to take Wingstop public. And Kaleida has worked closely with Skipworth, particularly in his most recent role as head of investor relations.
Wingstop, which has 1,415 U.S. restaurants, has been a pandemic success story, with same-store sales topping 30% during the height of the crisis. The chain has surpassed those strong sales during the first half of 2021.
Earlier this month, Wingstop announced the restructuring of its technology leadership structure, to include both digital and marketing functions. The new structure is designed to support one-to-one marketing to grow the chain’s digital business with the long-stated goal of digitizing 100% of its transactions.
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