Dive Brief:

• Rave Restaurant Group, the parent company of Pizza Inn and Pie Five, has hired Jay Rooney as chief financial officer. The company added five more executives to its leadership team as well in an effort to bolster growth, Rave said in a press release emailed to Restaurant Dive.
• Rooney joined the company from Dickey’s Barbecue, where he was CFO for about six years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
• Recently, Rave has hired or promoted leadership including: Zack Viljoen, VP of operations for Rave and general manager of Pie Five; Denise Wilson, associate VP of supply chain; Carlos Cojulun, marketing director of Pizza Inn; Roger Mangum, director of operations and training; and Liam Finn, director of franchise development.

Dive Insight:

Rave said the appointments are intended to signal that it is focused on growing its brands. Pizza Inn, the company’s flagship brand, had 112 units in the U.S. and 18 abroad at the end of 2023, according to Rave’s Q2 2024 earnings release, while fast casual Pie Five had 24 U.S. units.

Both brands have shrunk considerably since the year-ago period, according to the chain’s Q2 2023 earnings release. During Q2 2023, Pizza Inn had 125 domestic and 33 international units and Pie Five had 31 domestic stores.

Now, the company is focusing on expanding one particular kind of unit: buffets. Pizza Inn offers franchisees several types of stores: buffets, delivery-and-carryout-only stores, small express units and licensed kiosks (called PIE units), according to its most recent 10-K.

Pizza Inn grew its domestic buffet unit count from 70 in June 2021 to 72 the next year and 75 by mid-2023, according to its SEC filings. In the release announcing the executive appointments, the company shared that “after 24 years of decline, Pizza Inn has had consecutive years of net buffet unit growth.”

Rave also said Q2 2024 marked its 15th consecutive profitable quarter, and that its income for Q2 doubled year over year, from $0.3 million to $0.6 million. 

Several of the new executives will focus on driving growth specifically for the buffet concepts, with Viljoen, who was promoted from senior director of marketing and strategy, assuming “responsibility for marketing and operations, training operations and compliance, as well as driving scale reimagining for Pizza Inn buffets.”

Finn’s position in franchise development will likely be of strategic importance as the firm emphasizes its buffet concept. The company is currently looking to renovate a number of its buffets, according to its most recent earnings release. 

“We’ve embarked on a significant journey to reimagine our stores, and I’m excited to announce 10 more Pizza Inn restaurants are set to begin the process, which elevates both the aesthetics and functionality,” said Brandon Solano, Rave’s CEO.