Hard Rock International today announced the appointment of Elena Alvarez to vice president of Sales & Marketing—Company Cafes. Alvarez, who has been with Hard Rock for nearly 14 years, previously held the position of director of Sales & Marketing, Europe, where she managed Sales & Marketing for Hard Rock Cafe locations in 13 countries across the continent, aligning the organization’s objectives with business strategy through active participation in corporate strategic planning, sales strategy development, forecasting, sales resource planning, and budgeting for 24 Hard Rock Cafe locations throughout Europe.
In her new role, Alvarez will be responsible for the entire Sales & Marketing function for Cafe Operations, including 43 Cafes in North America and 24 Cafes in Europe. She will report directly to David Pellow, senior vice president of Cafe Operations at Hard Rock International.
“Elena has developed extensive senior level managerial experience with our company and is one of our most qualified Directors,” says Stephen K. Judge, president of Cafe Operations at Hard Rock International. “We are confident in her ability to thrive in her new role and look forward to the contributions she will continue to make to the organization.”
Alvarez began her career with Hard Rock as Sales & Marketing manager of Hard Rock Cafe Barcelona in April 2005 and after three years, was promoted to the Regional Sales & Marketing manager role based in London. During her time in Europe, Alvarez developed creative strategic initiatives for all European Cafes, leveraging hospitality and entertainment relationships to drive top line Cafe and retail sales, while heightening consumer awareness.
Throughout her tenure with Hard Rock, Alvarez has assisted in the implementation of Sales & Marketing structure in nine new Hard Rock Cafe locations across Europe. Further, she has been instrumental in the success Hard Rock Cafe anniversaries, grand openings, events and concerts in iconic locations throughout Europe. She has also been a member of the Hard Rock Heals Foundation Grants Advisory Council, part of the charitable arm of Hard Rock International, since 2017.
Alvarez also helped to establish a collaboration between Hard Rock Cafe and the Vicente Ferrer Foundation in Europe. Throughout this collaboration, which remained intact from 2006 through 2016, Alvarez and her team helped to better the community through actions such as building schools and homes for those in need, delivering thousands of bicycles to high school students, collaborating with special education centers to serve hundreds of children with mental disability or cerebral palsy and financing medical equipment for Bathalapalli Hospital, which helps more than two hundred thousand patients annually.
