FORMER ARBY’S RESTAURANT GROUP, INC. PRESIDENT AND CEO FORMS GPS HOSPITALITY AND ACQUIRES 42 ATLANTA-BASED BURGER KING® RESTAURANTS
Vision of Growth and Becoming Favorite Customer QSR Destination Drives Brand
ATLANTA – (October 23, 2012) – Tom Garrett, former president and CEO of Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc., has formed a new entrepreneurial venture, GPS Hospitality. The company has recently closed on the acquisition of 42 BURGER KING® restaurants located throughout the metro Atlanta area.
“GPS Hospitality is an operations-focused organization where every position revolves around serving the guest,” said Garrett. “Our culture is centered on our people, and our winning formula is our entrepreneurial spirit, accountability and firm belief that if we help our people achieve their goals, we will achieve ours.”
The company plans an aggressive growth strategy with a goal of reaching 100 restaurants over the next five years. In addition, GPS Hospitality will focus on re-imaging, and will remodel 29 of its BURGER KING® restaurants over the next three years.
“GPS Hospitality is singularly focused on the BURGER KING® brand,” Garrett added. “It’s a top-tier brand that is reinventing itself and we want to be a part of it. BURGER KING® restaurants’ new 20/20 building design and the many new and improved products on the menu make it the best opportunity in the industry; and the competition can’t touch the WHOPPER® sandwich.”
Garrett was appointed president/CEO of Arby’s in September of 2008, following the formation of Wendy’s/Arby’s Group, Inc. He held a variety of leadership and operations positions over his 29 year career with the Arby’s brand.
About GPS Hospitality
GPS Hospitality is a BURGER KING® franchisee, operating 42 restaurants in the Metro Atlanta area. GPS Hospitality seeks to become our guests’ favorite QSR destination by implementing our brand values of being Goal focused, People oriented and Service obsessed. For more information, please visit www.gpshospitality.com.
About Burger King Worldwide
Founded in 1954, BURGER KING® (NYSE: BKW) is the second largest fast food hamburger chain in the world. The original HOME OF THE WHOPPER®, the BURGER KING® system operates in over 12,600 locations serving over 11 million guests daily in 86 countries and territories worldwide. Approximately 94 percent of BURGER KING® restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have been in business for decades. To learn more about Burger King Worldwide, please visit the company’s website at www.bk.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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Kathy Siefert, KLS Communications · (404) 441-3669 · ksiefert@kls-communications.com