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Diving certificate:
- Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, the parent company of Checkers & Rally’s, has Chris Tebben as President and CEOeffective September 4, the company announced in a press release on Wednesday.
- Tebben will succeed Frances Allen, who announced her resignation in April to focus on her board work. Allen had served as CEO and president of the company since February 2020.
- Tebben has over Two decades of experience in the food service and consumer goods industries and was most recently President of Mars Retail Group, where he managed M&M’s global flagship stores. He has also held positions at Starbucks, PF Chang’s and Pizza Hut.
Diving insight:
Tebben is one of many new CEOs announced in the industry this month. Starbucks, Chipotle, Red Lobster, Bloomin’, Tony Roma’s and Chick-fil-A all named top executives or presidents in August as the chains shift strategy or fill gaps after departures.
Checkers and Rally’s, which has nearly 800 stores, continues to strive for more growth. In 2022, the company revamped one of its popular store models. The 1,000-square-foot format, which features a drive-thru and walk-up window but no dining room, received new exterior facades and a modern image as part of the facelift. Checkers and Rally’s also uses drive-thru AI that communicates with customers in both English and Spanish to ease the burden on in-store workers.
Tebben has experience in strategic planning, operations, restaurant development, multi-unit franchising, retail marketing and category management, according to the press release. He has worked in both turnaround and growth environments for Fortune 100 and private equity firms.
“His extensive experience in virtually every aspect of restaurant management, coupled with his proven track record of increasing sales, traffic and unit volume, make him the perfect fit to take these brands to the next level,” said David Barr, Checkers’ independent board member, in a statement.
Tebben’s experience includes various leadership roles at Starbucks, where he served for eight years. Most recently, he led the coffee chain’s expansion of Starbucks Reserve. During that time, Starbucks opened Reserve stores in the U.S. and abroad, including Starbucks Reserve Roastery, the brand’s largest store worldwide. Other positions he held at Starbucks included vice president of retail strategy, vice president of licensed stores, and vice president of Starbucks Frappuccino and tea business.
