James Greco has joined the growing Newk’s Eatery (601/982-1160) restaurant chain as Chief Operating Officer. In his new role with the quick casual franchise company, he will provide leadership for operating success, expand the company’s development program and help hone the ten-year-old company’s brand positioning. “Newk’s Eatery is already on a strong trajectory because of its unique positioning among second generation fast-casual restaurants,” said Greco. “To accommodate Newk’s explosive growth, more than doubling in size by 2018, we need to build additional support systems for franchise and company restaurants. I will help guide the development of those systems under the leadership of Chris Newcomb.”  The Jackson, Mississippi-based Newk’s Eatery currently has 70 locations across 13 states and will open 15 locations this year, reaching 200 total restaurants by 2018……..

In early September, San Diego, California-based Jack in the Box Inc. (858/522-4716) announced that Frances Allen will join the company as President of the Jack in the Box restaurant brand, effective October 27th.  Ms. Allen has more than 30 years of branding and marketing experience, including senior leadership roles at such organizations as Dunkin’ Brands, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, PepsiCo, Frito-Lay and most recently Denny’s Corp. where she was Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer. When Allen joins Jack in the Box, Chairman and CEO Lenny Comma will relinquish the additional title of President that he has held since May 2012, but he will continue serving as Chairman and CEO of the company, positions he has held since January 2014…….

Earlier in September, Wingstop Restaurants Inc. (972/686-6500) announced that effective immediately, Bill Engen has been named Chief Operating Officer, replacing Bill Knight, who is retiring after leading the Wingstop operations team for eleven years. Engen brings more than 15 years of leadership and management experience to the new post, including executive management positions with 7-Eleven Inc. and Circuit City Inc. He joins Wingstop during a year of record-setting new restaurant openings and the eleventh consecutive year of same store sales growth. “Wingstop is well positioned to further establish itself as one of the dominant brands in the fast casual segment and I am incredibly excited to join the team,” he said.  The Dallas, Texas-based chain has more than 670 restaurants open across the United States, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia, with locations coming soon to the United Arab Emirates…….

Ovation Brands (651/994-8608), the parent company to steak-buffet style restaurants Ryan’s, HomeTown Buffet, Old Country Buffet, Country Buffet and Fire Mountain, reported that Senior Vice President of Information Technology Patrick Benson has been appointed Chief Information Officer. Benson has spearheaded a number of new initiatives for Ovation as part of its reinvention, including the introduction of a new POS system that will roll out to the entire enterprise by Fall 2014.  In his new role as CIO, he will work closely with teams across Ovation Brands to deliver premium information systems solutions for the company. Based on Greer, South Carolina, Ovation Brands currently operates over 330 restaurants in 35 states, comprised of 324 steak-buffet restaurants and ten Tahoe Joe’s Famous Steakhouse restaurants. The company also has a Corporate Support Center located in Eagan, Minnesota……….

In mid-September, Irvine, California-based Yogurtland (949/265-8000) announced the addition of Craig Takiguchi to the team as Vice President of Brand Management. Formerly of Japan-based Beard Papa’s Sweets Café, Takiguchi joins in the newly-created position and will report to founder and President Phillip Chang. Takiguchi joins Yogurtland from Muginoho and its affiliates, the parent company of Beard Papa’s Sweets Café, where he co-founded the international divisions and developed its global franchise system. The hiring coincides with the return of Chang as president of the company and also comes as Yogurtland eyes growth in 2014 and beyond. The company currently has 300 units with plans to expand to more than 400 total locations by the end of 2015. Growth will come from a combination of single and multi-unit operators. Heading into the final quarter of 2014 Yogurtland has already added 43 stores this year……..