Former Friendly's CEO Takes Quiznos Executive Chairman Position

02/22/2012 – Quiznos, a Denver-based quick-service restaurant chain and pioneer of the toasted sandwich, announced it has named Harsha V. Agadi as Executive Chairman of its Board of Managers. Originally from Mumbai, India, Mr. Agadi brings more than 25 years’ experience with food service companies to the position, having worked with Domino’s Pizza, Pepsi, Kraft, General Foods, Little Caesars Enterprises, Church’s Chicken.   Most recently, Agadi stepped down     as CEO of Friendly’s Ice Cream Company.

Mr. Agadi will be supported by several other new board members, named below, as well as Quiznos current CEO Greg MacDonald who has been with the brand for more than a decade.

“We have confidence in Greg MacDonald and his team as they work to revitalize Quiznos and reinforce the brand’s promise as a fresh, high-quality and great-tasting alternative to traditional fast food offerings,” Agadi said. “Working together, we believe we have developed a financial plan that will allow the company to move toward achieving its long-term strategic goals. We are excited to be part of the Quiznos team and look forward to working with management, the franchise owners and the employees in the weeks and months ahead. The future of Quiznos is purely dependent on franchise profitability and same store sales and that is our fundamental focus.”

"We are pleased to have attracted someone of Harsha Agadi’s caliber to Quiznos,” said MacDonald. “Our objective is to reinvigorate and continue the development of the unique, global Quiznos brand. Bringing the knowledge and experience of Mr. Agadi to bear on this company will help us drive the business forward and maintain its position as one of the premier QSR companies in the world.”

The new Board of Managers also includes the following restaurant industry veterans:

• Claire Babrowski who has served as Chief Restaurant Operations Officer at McDonald’s, EVP/COO at Toys “R” Us and President, COO and interim CEO at RadioShack.
• Doug Benham who currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Sonic and O’Charley’s. His previous experience includes President and CEO of Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc., as well as CFO of RTM Restaurant Group.
• Kip Knight who has held senior management and marketing positions with Procter & Gamble and eBay, as well as PepsiCo, where he served as General Manager of North Latin America for KFC, head of marketing for KFC International and Chief Marketing Officer for Taco Bell.