Name: Bobby Morena
New title: Chief development officer, Church’s Texas Chicken
Previous title: Chief development officer, GoTo Foods
Morena, who started at Church’s on Monday, has over 25 years of franchise development experience in the restaurant space, according to a press release. He spent over four years at GoTo Foods focused on franchise development, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was promoted from senior vice president of franchise development to chief development officer in January. While at GoTo Foods, he led various initiatives that helped boost performance and franchise relationships and improved return on investment.
Morena spent roughly two decades at Jimmy John’s in the role of director of franchise development, according to his LinkedIn profile. At the sandwich chain, he helped expand the brand from fewer than 100 units to thousands nationwide, per the press release. He also set new benchmarks for franchise performance and growth.
In his new role, Morena will oversee Church’s domestic development strategy, including franchise sales, real estate, design and construction, and will work to accelerate expansion across the U.S. He will report to Roland Gonzalez, CEO and president of Church’s.
Morena will play a key part in the chain’s goal of reaching $2 billion in system sales, which will depend heavily on organic growth with existing franchises and building upon new development opportunities, including strategic refranchising of corporate locations and recruiting new franchisees. The brand plans to expand in existing and new markets nationwide.
The chain has largely focused on international growth of late, building a pipeline of 900 international units. However, Gonzalez previously told Restaurant Dive that he expects the gap between international and domestic units to narrow as the 1,500-unit chain sees more interest in growth from new and existing franchisees. The chain improved its average unit volume by nearly $250,000 over the past few years and current franchisees have been remodeling their locations and seeing a subsequent increase in sales.
