CEOs of restaurant brands oversee teams that make crucial real estate decisions, impacting the success of their concepts.
From site selection to lease negotiations to overall real estate tactics, quick-service, fast casual, and full-service restaurant executives constantly seek effective strategies to boost expansion plans, optimize store networks, and maximize profits. With that in mind, key restaurant industry executives have organized the inaugural, invite-only CEO Summit for Restaurant Real Estate.
"As someone who has worked in the development side of the restaurant business for more than 25 years, I have seen firsthand how a restaurant brand's success is determined by how effectively a CEO approaches real estate decisions and guides the team," says James Walker, president of operations and development for Johnny Rockets and Summit speaker.
"With that in mind, I felt that it was important to take part in a conference tailored for restaurant CEOs dealing with daily real estate challenges. Other real estate conferences out there are led by brokers or landlords, but this summit's unique differentiator is that it's organized for restaurant executives by restaurant executives.”
Taking place Feb. 26-27 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, the CEO Summit will feature sessions and dialogues all centered on this year's summit theme, "Why CEOs of Real Estate-Driven Brands are Consistently the Industry's Top Performers."
The Summit will include extensive examination of real estate philosophies, effective development and site selection and tips for dealing with "problem-child" sites. Speakers include James Walker, president of operations and development for Johnny Rockets; Lewis Gelmon, CEO of LG Enterprises; and Adam Epstein, president and founder of Site Analytics Co.
"The most successful restaurant brands in our industry are those that make purposeful real estate decisions, and this Summit is a great educational opportunity for CEOs to learn how to choose better sites and immediately improve profitability," Gelmon says.
"Although attendance at this year's inaugural CEO Summit is limited, we hope interested CEOs will request more information so that we can personally connect with each one on conference opportunities,” he says.
