Red Robin announced Monday that Dean Cookson, senior vice president and chief information officer, will leave the company effective Friday.
The brand said Cookson is resigning to pursue other business opportunities. He’s worked at Red Robin since September 2017. Prior to joining the team, he served as vice president and chief technology officer for Virgin American Airlines.
The chain didn’t indicate whether it has begun a search for Cookson’s replacement. In a filing, the restaurant said it will give Cookson a lump sum equal to twelve months of salary and COBRA benefits in the form of a lump sum in cash.
Cookson’s departure marks another shakeup to the C-suite in recent years.
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In January, Red Robin announced in a securities filing that Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Guy Constant’s employment was “terminated without cause.” Constant was promoted to COO in January 2019, replacing Carin Stutz, who held the title since April 2016. Stutz, the former president of McAlister’s Deli and CEO of Cosi, was also “terminated without cause” and left in September 2018.
Shortly after Constant was promoted, Red Robin announced that it had hired Lynn Schweinfurth as executive vice president and chief financial officer. She previously worked as CFO for Fiesta Restaurant Group.
Additionally, former CEO Denny Marie Post announced she was retiring in April 2019 after seven years with the company and three as CEO. Patty Moore, the board chair at the time, ran the company until CEO Paul Murphy was hired in September 2019.
In Q2, Red Robin’s same-store sales dropped 41.4 percent and traffic declined 38.5 percent. The chain saw a net loss of 56.3 million and saw revenue decrease 48 percent to $161.1 million.
Meanwhile off-premises sales spiked 208.7 percent year-over-year and grew to 63.8 percent of food and beverage business. In Q1, the channel mixed 26.3 percent. Pre-pandemic, it accounted for just 14 percent of sales.
