Promotion, new executives to support next stage of growth, doubling of stores
Fast-casual &pizza has stepped into its next phase of growth with a promotion, expanded executive team and a restaurant opening on Wall Street. Founded in 2012, the chain is accelerating growth at a significant pace as it bolsters its c-suite. Andy Hooper has been promoted to president and chief operating officer. Eric Bruner-Yang, with deep chef celebrity in Washington, D.C., joins &pizza as new executive chef. Additionally, the D.C.-based chain tapped John Reepmeyer as its chief financial officer.
As it plans to double in size over the next 24 months, &pizza will experiment with new store formats. And it plans to open additional restaurants in D.C., Maryland, Virginia and northern New Jersey within the next 12 months.
New &pizza executive team, promoted executive have industry-wide experience
Hooper served as chief people officer for 18 months prior to his promotion. Previously, he worked at Cafe Rio Mexican Grill and Burger King in various management positions. As &pizza chief operating officer, Hooper will position the pizza chain for growth, overseeing business operations.
As new CFO, Reepmeyer will help the chain with its expansion plans. Previously, he served as the CFO of Roti Mediterranean Grill and vice president of Finance for Potbelly Sandwich Works. At Potbelly, Reepmeyer helped the chain go public in 2013.
Tapped as &pizza executive chef, Bruner-Yang has celebrity status in D.C. and is set to revamp the menu. The chef-restaurateur is known for widely-popular restaurants Spoken English, Brothers And Sisters and Maketto. Recently, Spoken English won best New Restaurant of the Year Award at the RAMMYS Gala in June. The restaurant was also a semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant.
With a new &pizza executive team, the Board of Directors is an ideal anchor:
- Kevin Reddy serves as chairman of the board. He is a former COO of Chipotle and CEO of Noodles & Company.
- Adam Eskin is the founder and chief executive of Dig Inn.
- Sandy Beall founded Ruby Tuesday and Blackberry Farm.
- Doug Jacob co-founded JWALK.
- Matt Higgins serves as CEO of RSE Capital, a company he co-founded. Recently, he made an appearance on Shark Tank as a guest shark.
Also, Chief Executive Michael Lastoria, who co-founded &pizza, will remain in the company’s top position. With a strong, new &pizza executive team, he’s free to oversee the brand’s vision.
Additionally, the new store on Wall Street opens today with a new menu, courtesy of Bruner-Yang. &pizza Wall Street is designed with an added splash of yellow, a first in the chain’s history of openings. With 36 locations, &pizza is backed by private equity firm Avalt, which helped grow Domino’s and Outback.
&pizza Wall Street, 63 Wall Street, New York, N.Y. 10005
Photo credit: &pizza
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