EXECUTIVE CONNECTION

In This Month's Issue:

• How CFOs are Driving Margin Recovery in Hospitality
• Restaurant Executive Movements
• Restaurant Financials
• Exit Readiness Begins on Day One
• Follow Wray Executive Search on LinkedIn
• Summer Doldrums
• New Opportunities
• National Restaurant Association Industry Jobs Report

How CFOs are Driving Margin Recovery in Hospitality

By Kevin Stockslager, Managing Partner, Wray Executive Search

For much of the past several years, restaurant and hospitality leaders have faced relentless pressure on profitability. Inflation, rising labor costs, supply chain disruptions, shifting consumer spending, and higher operating expenses have compressed margins across nearly every segment of the industry.

While operators continue to focus on guest experience and revenue growth, many organizations have discovered that sustainable margin recovery starts in the finance office.

Today's Restaurant CFO is no longer simply responsible for budgeting and reporting. Increasingly, CFOs are leading enterprise-wide initiatives that improve profitability, optimize operations, and position organizations for long-term growth.

Restaurant Executive Movements - July 2026

&pizza’s parent company hires CEO

Denny’s Names Aaron Howard Chief Operating Officer

International Dairy Queen Hires Phil Crawford as Chief Technology Officer

Papa Johns Announces CFO Transition

SPB Hospitality Welcomes Back Restaurant Development Veteran Keith Wheaton

The Wendy’s Company Names Steve Cirulis Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer

MTY Reports Second Quarter Results for Fiscal 2026

Kura Sushi USA Announces Fiscal Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results

Local Favorite Restaurants Acquires Cotton Patch Cafe

Mas Restaurant Group, Backed by Bessemer Investors, Sells Ohio Taco Bell Units to Southpaw

Darden Restaurants Reports Fiscal 2026 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results; Increases Quarterly Dividend; Authorizes New $1.5 Billion Share Repurchase Program; and Provides Fiscal 2027 Outlook

Jack in the Box Inc. Completes $500 Million Securitized Financing Facility

By Ray Kelley, Managing Partner, Wray Executive Search

Why Leadership Decisions Determine Restaurant Enterprise Value Long Before the Sale Process Begins

Private equity firms devote extraordinary attention to the mechanics of creating enterprise value. Investment theses are carefully built around unit expansion, margin improvement, digital transformation, pricing strategy, franchising, acquisitions, and capital structure optimization. Detailed operating plans are established immediately after closing, with each initiative designed to increase EBITDA and ultimately expand valuation multiples. Yet one of the most influential drivers of enterprise value is still too often viewed as an operational consideration rather than an investment decision.

That driver is executive leadership.



The highest-performing restaurant investments do not create value during the final year of ownership. They create value throughout the hold period by building organizations capable of executing consistently, adapting intelligently, and scaling predictably. Leadership quality is the common denominator behind those outcomes. Increasingly, sophisticated investors recognize that executive talent is not simply an organizational resource, it is an asset that compounds, or erodes, enterprise value over time.

At Wray Executive Search, we’re passionate about building leadership teams that drive real impact across the restaurant, hospitality, and franchising industries.

If you’re interested in executive search insights, leadership stories, industry trends, and updates on executive movements, I encourage you to follow our Wray Executive Search LinkedIn page.

We’re proud to partner with innovative brands and exceptional leaders, and we’d love for you to be part of the conversation.

By John Gordon, Pacific Management Consulting

Sad to note that the industry has fallen into a dip in the road. Looking at rolling 4-week average SSS, we have been about .5% negative to 1.4% SSS negative each week since the middle of May. Interestingly, check has moved lower since early June. About half of the brands in the sample are consistently negative. Virtually all of these were down 5% or more. CAVA, Yard House, Jersey Mikes, Longhorn, Shake Shack, Panda Express, and Culvers were all nicely positive. Burger King continues to be up mid-single digits, while McDonalds was down single digits every week.



Via a field visit yesterday, I noted that the new McDonald’s Arch Deluxe was off the menu, said to be because of a sauce problem. [This is odd as BBQ or Honey Mustard could do.]

Popeyes, Wendys and Hardees were down 12% or more. Hardee’s franchisee Superior Star with 59 units filed Chapter 11 this week.

Head of Retail - Florida

President/COO - SoCal

Check out the latest Industry Jobs Report from the National Restaurant Association

Total restaurant industry jobs

Restaurant job growth was choppy during the first half of 2026

Eating and drinking places lost a net 32,900 jobs in June on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That marked a significant change in the restaurant employment narrative, as the initial readings for both April and May were revised sharply lower. 

BLS now reports that eating and drinking places added just over 24,000 jobs in April and May. That was well below the combined increase of nearly 83,000 jobs that was reported in last month’s data release.