SEATTLE (RestaurantNewsRelease.com) Norman Abdallah, President and Chief Executive Officer of Restaurants Unlimited, Inc. (RUI), announced today that the Board of Directors has appointed Scott Smith as the new President and Chief Executive Officer. Scott Smith, who has been with RUI as the Chief Operations Officer since June 2009, will assume the leadership role and associated responsibilities immediately.
In March 2009, Sun Capital (Boca Raton, FL – based capital investment firm) brought Abdallah to the organization to stabilize the business and build a new foundation for future growth. During his time at Restaurants Unlimited Inc., Abdallah successfully reorganized the company by developing new brand pillars for 10 of the 14 brands, significantly increased the four-wall EBITDAR, built a solid balance sheet and spearheaded a partnership with North Point Advisors and Sun Capital to recapitalize the company.
When asked, “What’s next?” Abdallah said, “I am not certain what my next challenge will entail. I have enjoyed being part of the RUI family and look forward to their future success. These restaurants are some of the best in class, and I know the operators will continue the impressive job of developing unique and crave-able brands.”
Additional changes to the RUI leadership team are as follows: Rene de la Garrigue will replace Scott Smith as Chief Operations Officer, Mike Majestic takes the lead as Director of Marketing and Robin Galloway will remain the Chief Financial Officer. These individuals played a vital role in improving same store sales by as much as 15%, and Abdallah is confident that they will continue to achieve great success in their new roles.
Restaurants Unlimited, Inc. operates 48 award-winning restaurants in eleven states including 14 Kincaid’s Fish, Chop, and Steakhouses; 8 Palomino’s, 9 Stanford’s, 7 Newport Bay and Newport Seafood Grills, and 10 other concepts: Portland City Grill, Palisade, Henry’s 12th Street Tavern, Cutter’s Bayhouse, Scott’s Bar & Grill, Ryan’s Grill, Manzana, Billy Heartbeat’s, Pizzeria Fondi, and Maggie Bluff’s. For more information, please visit www.r-u-i.com.