Name: Debbie Stroud
New title: Chief operating officer, Whataburger
Previous title: Senior vice president of U.S. retail operations, Starbucks
Debbie Stroud will join Whataburger as COO effective Feb. 15, the burger chain announced Friday. Stroud will work out of the chain’s San Antonio headquarters and help support its ongoing growth phase.
In her tenure at Starbucks, Stroud led a team of regional vice presidents and oversaw retail operations across the U.S., according to Whataburger’s press release. Before working at Starbucks, Stroud spent 27 years at McDonald’s. At McDonald’s, Stroud rose to lead the chain’s operations in the U.S. Southeast, according to the press release.
Whataburger has about 900 units in 14 states, and recently entered Kansas City, Nashville, Tennessee and Colorado Springs, Colorado markets, according to the chain’s press kit. In 2021, Whataburger CEO Ed Nelson said the chain was interested in hiring tens of thousands of workers to support its expansion.
