A fast-growing cookie chain is turning to a fast-growing chicken chain for its next executive.
Crumbl Cookies on Thursday named Graciela Chadwick the company’s new chief operating officer. She will oversee operations and work with the company’s franchisees. Chadwick starts in early November.
Chadwick is from Mexico City and came to the U.S. to work with the auditing firm KPMG. She then went to work at Burger King to overhaul the burger chain’s back-office system before moving onto the operations department.
She joined Chick-fil-A in 2008 and has held numerous roles since then. She most recently worked in strategy and insights to streamline operations.
Chadwick follows Sawyer Hemsley, Crumbl Cookies’ co-founder who is now the chief branding officer.
In a statement, Jason McGowan, Crumbl’s CEO, said that Chadwick has “proven experience in helping some of the strongest brands in the world optimize operations.”
“As a franchise with nearly 600 locations across the country, consistent and smooth operational processes are critical to the success of Crumbl Cookies,” he said.
Crumbl Cookies is one of the country’s fastest-growing chains. But in hiring Chadwick the company is bringing in an operator seasoned in the restaurant business, and particularly one that relies on franchisees to run locations—as Chick-fil-A does.
Crumbl opened its first location in 2017 and was the second-fastest growing chain on the Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report.
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