Dive Brief:
- Restaurant Brands International has promoted Peter Perdue to chief operating officer at Burger King U.S. and Canada, and appointed Katerina Glyptis as president of Tim Hortons U.S., the company announced Thursday.
- Both executives have long tenures at brands now owned by RBI. Perdue joined Burger King in 2013, according to his LinkedIn profile, while Glyptis began working for Burger King in 2014.
- The promotions come as RBI fights to revitalize the Burger King brand in the U.S. and boost franchisee profits to protect operators against further bankruptcies and closures.
Dive Insight:
Perdue will be tasked primarily with ensuring operational consistency across Burger King’s system in Canada and the U.S., according to the press release. His efforts there will support the brand’s ongoing drive to remodel or improve thousands of stores.
“Peter has proven experience working closely with franchisees to improve profitability through operations initiatives, in addition to supporting restaurants through our field team,” Burger King U.S. President Tom Curtis said in the release.
Curtis called Perdue an architect of the Reclaim the Flame plan, which dedicates $250 million to remodeling, improving or refreshing some 3,800 Burger King stores, first announced last September. While Burger King said the program is having an effect on stores and sales, the company also said during its most recent earnings call that it expected more stores than normal, or up to 400, to close in the U.S. this year.
At Tim Hortons, Glyptis will be responsible for growing the brand’s presence in the U.S., Tim Hortons U.S. and Canada President Axel Schwan said in a statement. Schwan said the company had about 600 stores in the U.S. Before leading Tim Horton’s U.S., Glyptis worked as VP of franchise operations for Burger King in the U.S. and Canada.
