Atlanta — FOCUS Brands® names Rick Altizer as president of McAlister’s Deli®, a leading fast-casual restaurant chain.
“Rick is an accomplished executive who has a strong track record for leading high-performance teams and transforming businesses into high-growth franchises,” says Paul Damico, FOCUS Brands president, North America. “He will draw on his extensive experience in the franchise business to continue to drive McAlister’s innovation and success.”
Altizer joins McAlister’s from Rightwell Growth, a business consultancy group which helps early-stage growth companies establish strategy, capital and resources necessary to achieve growth.
With more than 30 years of leadership experience in retail marketing and operations, Altizer began his foodservice career with McDonald’s Corporation in 1989. He demonstrated his expertise through a number of positions with the company, including roles in accounting, operations and store management, rounding out his tenure as vice president and general manager of 500 store locations across Kansas and Missouri.
Following McDonald’s, Altizer served for 4 years as vices president of operations and training for Midas International and then as the president of Jiffy Lube International before moving to the role of fuel marketing vice president with Shell Oil in Houston. In that role, Altizer served the wholesalers and sites for two years by leading the team that creates marketing and loyalty programs for over 14,000 Shell branded fueling and convenience sites across North America. After Shell, Altizer became CEO at Elevation Burger, the world’s first and largest grass-fed organic hamburger chain. During his term as CEO, Altizer helped transform the company from a small, family-owned business to a high-growth restaurant franchise, revitalizing comp sales trajectories and achieving double-digit growth in total sales.
Founded in 1989, McAlister’s Deli® is a fast-casual restaurant chain with more than 361 restaurants in 28 states. The company is headquartered in Atlanta. For more information, visit www.mcalistersdeli.com.
Atlanta-based FOCUS Brands Inc., through its affiliate brands, is the franchisor and operator of more than 5,000 ice cream shops, bakeries, restaurants and cafes in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 60 foreign countries under the brand names Carvel®, Cinnabon®, Schlotzsky’s®, Moe’s Southwest Grill®, Auntie Anne’s® and McAlister’s Deli®, as well as Seattle’s Best Coffee® on certain military bases and in certain international markets. For more information, visit www.focusbrands.com.
SOURCE: McAlister’s Deli