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Papa John’s names Steve Ritchie presidentPapa John’s names Steve Ritchie president

The pizza brand's COO adds new title

Jonathan Maze, Senior Financial Editor

July 31, 2015

1 Min Read
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Papa John’s International Inc. has given Chief Operating Officer Steve Ritchie the additional title of president, the company said Thursday.

Ritchie will work with CEO John Schnatter to continue to develop the brand worldwide.

“We are fortunate to have a proven leader in Steve to assume the additional role of president of the company,” Schnatter said in a statement. “He shares my passion for quality and is an outstanding operator and leader for our company and entire system.”

Ritchie was named COO last year, when he took over for Tony Thompson, the former president and chief operating officer who left to take a job as CEO of Krispy Kreme.

Schnatter held the title of president for more than a year before ceding that title to Ritchie.

Ritchie started with Papa John’s as a customer service representative at the company in 1996, when he made $5 an hour. He served in various capacities of increasing operations leadership since 2010. He also has been a Papa John’s Pizza franchise owner and operator in the Midwest division since 2006.

Contact Jonathan Maze at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter at @jonathanmaze

About the Author

Jonathan Maze

Senior Financial Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Jonathan Maze covers finance for Nations Restaurant News, as well as restaurant chains based in the Midwest.

Jonathan came to NRN in 2014 after seven years covering restaurants for Franchise Times Magazine and the Restaurant Finance Monitor. There, he created an award-winning blog that reported on and analyzed the restaurant industry. He is routinely quoted in various mainstream press articles, including the Associated Press, Washington Post, Orlando Sentinel, Denver Post and Yahoo! Finance. He lives in a suburb of Minneapolis with his wife, two children and their cat.

Reach Jonathan at [email protected], or by phone at 651 633-6526.

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