Tropical Smoothie Café has promoted Mike Rotondo to chief operating officer, the 285-unit chain said Friday.
Previously vice president of operations, Rotondo, will be responsible for coordinating all franchisee and area developer operations in his new role, Tropical Smoothie said.
His experience includes serving as regional director of franchise operations at Arby’s, where he oversaw 850 locations, and district manager and instructor at Wendy’s Management Institute.
“Mike’s dedication and passion to the industry is apparent with more than 25 years of restaurant expertise and unwavering commitment to everything he does,” said Eric Jenrich, president and chief executive of Destin, Fla.-based Tropical Smoothie Café.
Jenrich credited Rotondo and his team with the chain’s 8.5-percent increase in same-store-sales in 2010. Rotondo also led the effort to add flatbreads to the menu in 2009, which earned Tropical Smoothie Café a MenuMasters Award, given annually by Nation’s Restaurant News.
Among Rotondo’s initiatives for 2011 is a “Summertime Somewhere” promotion, which is slated to start in February and will feature giveaways like vacations, food and other prizes.
Rotondo also pointed to three key initiatives for the year: increasing franchised restaurants’ average unit volume to $500,000, “rolling out new and innovative franchise profitability tools to drive unit level economics,” and completing a menu analysis.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
