Pokeworks on Thursday elevated Steve Heeley to chief executive officer. He had been the fast-causal poke concept’s CMO since March.
Before coming to Pokeworks, Heeley served as the CEO of plant-based Veggie Grill.
Steve Heeley, photo courtesy of Pokeworks
Mike Wu, Pokeworks’ former CEO and co-founder, will become head of culinary for the 60-unit chain, with a focus on menu development.
“This announcement is a strategic part of our company’s evolution,” Wu said in a statement.
Heeley was part of a C-suite hiring spree for Pokeworks in March in which the chain brought in Michael Walters as COO and Larry Sidoti as chief development officer. Wu had previously said the chain took advantage of a wealth of restaurant talent that had become available during the pandemic.
Heeley will be charged with helping the Irvine, Calif.-based brand reach its aggressive growth goals, which includes adding 10 new locations by the end of the year and a projected 30 restaurants in 2022.
In addition to Veggie Grill, Heeley has also held executive posts at Earl of Sandwich, Au Bon Pain, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Baja Fresh.
“It has been exciting and humbling to be part of the tremendous growth of this brand,” Heeley said in a statement. “Pokeworks’ founders, management team and franchise partners have done an incredible job of growing Pokeworks into a hugely successful national brand in a short period of time … Poke is no longer a trend; it has matured into a broadly accepted growth category in fast casual.”
Earlier this year, Pokeworks announced plans to debut a new prototype featuring an order-ahead pickup drive-thru lane.
Pokeworks was founded in 2015. It features of menu of curated poke bowls, as well as customizable dishes. The chain saw sales grow 5% between 2019 and 2020, according to data from Restaurant Business sister firm, Technomic.
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