Captain D's names new COO, CDO

Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen has named a chief operating officer and chief development officer, both new positions at the Nashville, Tenn.-based company.

The quick-service operator hired Michael Arrowsmith as chief development officer and promoted Jim Stevens to chief operating officer.

“The D’s brand is thriving,’ said Captain D’s chief executive Phil Greifeld. “Our positive momentum continues to build. As such, I thought it was an ideal time for our uniquely positioned brand to start welcoming franchise operators.”

The chain put franchising on hold during its turnaround, but since it will now start actively seeking new franchisees, Captain D’s needed a strong executive team in place, he added.

Arrowsmith most recently worked as managing director for national franchise sales at NSI Group, a company that focuses on franchise mergers and acquisitions. In his former role, he oversaw franchise re-sales and worked with foodservice industry franchise brands.

Arrowsmith’s franchise experience made him a good fit for Captain D’s, Greifeld said. “He has a successful track record in franchising and development,” he said. “We conducted a long and extensive search, and we wanted to make sure we chose someone who was aligned with D’s culture and values.”

Arrowsmith, who has worked in the restaurant industry for 25 years, has also held positions at Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Shoney’s, Denny’s and Gloria Jean’s Gourmet Coffee, the company said in a statement.

Stevens, who most recently served as vice president of operations at Captain D’s, was promoted to chief operating officer for helping the company achieve its business goals, Greifeld said.

“Over the past two years, he has successfully run our company operations,” Greifeld said. “He’s very talented in motivating people and he’s very talented in driving our company sales and profits.”

“We feel he was the ideal choice to lead our franchise and internal operations,” he added.

During the past couple of years, Captain D’s has staged a turnaround. The company reported its first same-store sales increase in eight years in 2011, and has upgraded some of its menu items and redesigned many of its restaurants. Those changes lead to a same-store sales increase of 9.2 percent at brand’s company-owned units and 7.5 percent at franchised locations during fiscal 2012, Greifeld said.

“We’ve continued to build on that success into 2013, and we’ve continued to have positive comps,” he said.

Captain D’s, which is owned by Sun Capital Partners Inc., has more than 520 restaurants systemwide, 45 percent of which are franchised.

Contact Erin Dostal at [email protected].
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