Guy Russo takes the chairman's helm at Guzman y Gomez
Kmart turnaround chief and retail industry icon, Guy Russo, has become the new chairman of QSR, Guzman y Gomez.
Russo, who has been on the board of GYG since 2014, has been working with the business over its recent years of expansion. It’s work that’s seen GYG launch a day part menu strategy, a new range of healthy kids meals, and secure $44 million in investment from TDM Growth Partners. The group now has plans to open another 15 restaurants across Australia in 2019, as well as further its international footprint.
In a statement, Russo said GYG had been on a “remarkable” journey since first launching in Newtown in 2006.
“I’ve been fortunate to have been involved for much of this time and anticipate an exciting future as we pursue a mission to reinvent food,” he said. “We’ll be seeing more of the exciting food and culture that GYG has become renowned for along with some category-defining work in menu and restaurant innovations over the next 12 months.
“I can’t wait to be involved with the whole team, from robust leadership to our energetic crew in-store, as we take GYG to the next level.”
Russo has spent many years in retail, experience that culminated in strong commercial success when he was tasked in 2008 with turning Wesfarmers’ Kmart brand around. Having helped make Kmart one of Australia’s most successful department stores, Russo then became CEO of the newly created Department Stores division overseeing both Kmart and Target.
Russo retired from the CEO role in August last year but continues as a senior advisor to Wesfarmers for the rest of the 2019 financial year.
GYG founder and global CEO, Steven Marks, said Russo is one of the most dynamic and successful retail executives in Australia, “if not the world”.
“He’s one of the most astute board members I’ve seen,” he commented. “As chairman, he will have high expectations of both board and management to deliver across all aspects of governance and the business.”
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+:google.com/+CmoAu
Our latest CMO 2022 readiness episode on the great resignation and staff motivation and leadership is now live!
Many marketing leaders are scrambling to give their people more flexible work. And they need to: PWC’s Future of Work report showed 90 per cent of staff want some form of hybrid or remote workplace.
Your success as a senior marketing professional has much in common with your success as a leader. Both marketing, and leadership activities, depend on building trust, encouraging action, and reliably fulfilling promises that have been made.
Between further interest rate rises, inflation, empty shelves, extortionate lettuce prices, supply chain issues and the barely believable events in Eastern Europe, the past six months there’s been a cacophony of environmental factors.
Invest and earn with Coinbloc .us. Guaranteed Weekly ROI, early signals, fast withdrawals among others. I recommend Coinbloc .us as on...
Hans Jensen
Explainer: What marketers need to know about cryptocurrency
Investment decisions are a big deal, so why not get some guidance? You can day-trade cryptos, BUY and HOLD and evaluate the assets with f...
Dave Sigurd
Gartner: Digital isn't enough of a superpower for CMOs anymore
I normally don’t feel comfortable investing online but because the company I worked for downsized due to the pandemic and I was one of th...
Dave Sigurd
CMO's top 8 martech stories for the week - 9 June 2022
Investment decisions are a big deal, so why not get some guidance? You can day-trade cryptos, BUY and HOLD and evaluate the assets with f...
Dave Sigurd
Creating a marketplace for wellness
A solution for an retail industry data extraction. https://e-scraper.com/usefu...
"e-Scraper" Data Extracting
Catchoftheday launches fee-based online shopping club