Paul Twohig retires as MOD Pizza presidentPaul Twohig retires as MOD Pizza president

Photo: John Maguire (Left) 

Paul Twohig, president of MOD Super-Fast Pizza Holdings LLC, retired from the MOD Pizza parent at the end of 2019 and the company expects to name John Maguire, currently chief operating officer, to succeed him, the company co-founder said Friday.

Scott Svenson, co-founder of the Bellevue, Wash.-based pizza brand, said Maguire, who has served as the chief operating officer since October 2018, would assume the role later in January. Prior to MOD, Maguire served as president of Friendly’s and Johnny Rockets.

Twohig has served as MOD Pizza president since April 2018. Co-founders Scott and Ally Svenson had earlier asked Twohig to come out of retirement and lead the brand for 18 months, but that was extended.

“While it went a bit longer, it truly was one of the great experiences in my career,” Twohig said in a LinkedIn post on New Year’s Day.

Photo: Paul Twohig (Right)

Twohig has served on MOD Pizza’s advisory board since 2008 and formally joined MOD as COO in July 2017 from Dunkin’ Donuts, where he served as president of U.S. and Canadian operations. Prior to Dunkin’ Donuts, Twohig was chief operating officer of Panera Bread Co. and spent 14 years at Starbucks Corp. in executive roles in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Svenson on Friday said, “Paul has been involved with MOD since the formation of the company, so 11 years, and he has been on our advisory board since we set up the business.” Twohig also worked with the Svensons for several months after leaving Panera and before leading Dunkin’.

“We’ve been very grateful for the time he’s spent with us,” Svenson said, adding that Twohig was instrumental in the recruitment of Maguire.

“The transition has been in the planning for quite some time, and we’re just now executing on it,” Svenson said. The company expects to make announcements on Maguire’s position and other new internal realignments in the next few weeks, he added.

MOD Pizza had about 475 units open at the end of 2019, Svenson said, with 10 of those units in the United Kingdom and the remainder in the United States.

In the most recent Nation’s Restaurant News Top 200 survey, sales at the fast-casual pizza chain grew by 44.7% in the year ended December 2018, to $390.7 million, after having grown by 80% in the preceding year. In 2018, it opened a net 98 restaurants — 77 company-owned and 21 franchised — closing out the year with 395 locations for 33% growth in units.

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