Church's Chicken Names New C E O

Church's Chicken has named Jim Hyatt as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Hyatt brings more than 35 years of experience in restaurant operations, most recently as president and CEO of Così Inc., a fast casual chain, where he has worked since 2007.

Previously, Hyatt spent 16 years as an executive and franchise owner at Burger King Holdings. He most recently served as executive vice president and global chief operations officer where he was instrumental in an organization-wide turnaround in sales and profitability.

Hyatt was recruited to Burger King corporate after having been an award-winning Burger King franchisee in the Atlanta market for 11 years. During his time as a Burger King franchisee, he represented more than 11,000 restaurants and over 1,200 franchisees in 65 countries while serving on various committees in leadership roles with the National Franchisee Association.

Hyatt also served as director of operations at Hardee's Restaurants from 1986 to 1990.

"We are pleased to bring the talent and track record of Jim Hyatt to Church's Chicken," said Tully Friedman, Church's chairman of the Board of Directors. "Jim's unique blend of executive, field and franchisee experience and exceptional history of driving operational and performance enhancements in restaurant concepts will be a tremendous asset as we continue to grow the business and consistently deliver the best possible dining experience to our customers." Hyatt succeeds Mel Deane, who served as CEO since December 2009.

Hyatt will work from Church's Corporate Restaurant Support Center in Atlanta.

Over the summer, Church's Chicken also tapped a new SVP of brand marketing and a new chief development officer.

Church's Chicken is a portfolio company of Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, a San Francisco-based private equity firm.

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