Atlanta — Huddle House has named Blain Shortreed as its new brand president. Shortreed is a career restaurant professional with more than 30 years of experience leading top brands, most recently as CEO of Long John Silver’s. As Huddle House brand president, he will oversee company operations, the franchise system, marketing and culinary innovation.
“We are thrilled to welcome Blain to the Ascent Hospitality Management senior executive team as he assumes leadership of the Huddle House system,” says James O’Reilly, chief executive officer for Ascent Hospitality Management®. “He brings extensive restaurant operations and finance experience that will be incredibly valuable to the brand. He’s demonstrated throughout his career the ability to grow brands and will be vital as we continue to expand and evolve our organization.”
Shortreed’s career is characterized by a rich and multifaceted background spanning finance and operations with a wealth of experience. Shortreed has navigated through various progressive leadership roles in these critical domains. Prior to joining Huddle House, Shortreed served as chief executive officer for Long John Silver’s, the world’s most popular quick-service seafood chain with nearly 600 restaurants, where he built a team to deliver on legacy brands’ turnaround strategy. He initially joined the company as its COO before taking on the CEO role.
Prior to Long John Silver’s, Shortreed served as Pizza Hut’s vice president of operations, responsible for the operations of more than 5,000 domestic corporate and franchise-owned locations. He successfully rebuilt the Middle East Pizza Hut team, establishing over 100 restaurants. He also served as vice president of operations for Yum! Restaurants Canada, where he oversaw operations for the company and franchised KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell locations.
For more information, visit www.HuddleHouse.com.
SOURCE: Huddle House