Sonic names new president

sonic drive-in front

Sonic Corp. has named 15-year veteran Christina Bell Vaughan as president of the drive-in chain’s franchisor-run restaurants, a division known as Sonic Restaurants Inc.

About 350 of Sonic’s 3,500 branches are company-operated.

Vaughan will also get a seat on the Sonic Franchisee Advisory Council, a group that provides the franchise community with a voice on the brand’s strategic direction. The appointment suggests that Sonic intends to treat its company stores in effect as another franchise group, equally at risk or in a position to benefit from corporate decisions as any other operator.

Vaughan was most recently VP of franchise relations, working with operators in Sonic’s central region. Earlier, as VP of market strategies, she led the systemwide adoption of a new POS system and other technologies.

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