Dive Brief:
- Jersey Mike’s appointed Michele Allen as its chief financial officer, effective Dec. 1, the company said in a Tuesday press release.
- Allen succeeds Walter Tombs, who will retire from Jersey Mike’s in January after working at the company for 26 years. Tombs will support the company as an advisor throughout 2026 to assist with the transition.
- Allen, who most recently served as chief financial officer and head of strategy at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, has over 25 years of financial leadership in hospitality and franchising and is expected to help guide Jersey Mike’s global expansion.
Dive Insight:
Allen’s extensive experience will prove critical as she oversees the growing brand’s global finance organization, supply chain and enterprise performance management. She also will be crucial in maintaining the company’s financial discipline while its scales in new and existing markets.
Her experience includes “leading finance, enterprise-wide strategy, financial partnerships, and strategic sourcing,” the press release said. While at Wyndham, Allen helped the company manage complex transactions as well as a strategic transformation, macroeconomic disruptions and the demands for consistency and clarity incumbent on a publicly traded firm. She spent nearly 20 years at the hotel company in financial leadership positions with increasing responsibility, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“[Allen’s] deep expertise in franchise-first business models, combined with her track record of building high-performing finance teams and leading through transformation at one of the largest publicly traded hospitality companies, makes her exceptionally well-suited to support our continued growth,” CEO Charlie Morrison said in a statement.
Jersey Mike’s has over 3,100 locations in the U.S. and Canada, but is increasingly focused on international expansion. The company hired Andy Skehan as president of international earlier this month to support the chain’s growth initiatives in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Jersey Mike’s has brought additional talent into its C-suite this year, hiring Morrison as its CEO in April. The company hired Stacy Peterson as president and chief operating officer and Betsy Mercado as chief people officer in September.
