Kevin Reddy, who has run Noodles & Company , is out as chairman and CEO immediately and a search for a new boss has begun, the Broomfield fast-casual pasta chain said Monday in a statement.
In the interim, Robert Hartnett, a previous CEO at Houlihan’s Restaurants, becomes chairman, and Noodles chief financial officer Dave Boennighausen steps up to the CEO role. Boennighausen joined the company in 2004 and became its CFO in July 2012.
In a statement, Reddy said, “After many years with this great company, I have decided that it is the right time in my career to pursue new personal and financial opportunities. … I am looking forward to finding that elusive balance we all seek between personal goals and dreams and the right business opportunities that make them possible.”
During Reddy’s tenure, the company quintupled to 500 restaurants nationwide and became one of the top restaurant chains to watch nationally. He started his career at McDonald’s and previously served at Chipotle Mexican Grill as its chief operating officer. Earlier this month, from Buffalo Wild Wings to be chief operating officer for Noodles.
The management change came two months after Noodles experienced a security issue where hackers may have had access to customer payment information. The company notified customers in May of the .
But growth has also slowed and Noodles decided to as a cost-savings move at the end of last year.
On Monday, Noodles shared preliminary earnings for the second quarter, which ended June 28. Revenue came in at $121 million during the quarter, which is higher than the year-ago quarter’s $115.2 million. Margins declined to 13.5 percent, compared to the year-ago restaurant contribution margin of 18.6 percent.
Noodles said that company-owned stores saw less of a decline than franchisees, at a 0.9 percent decline in comparable sales compared to 2.1 percent decline for franchise restaurants. Final results will be reported on Aug. 4.
Second-quarter revenues are below the $125.4 million analysts had expected, according to Bloomberg. The margin is also lower than the 14 to 16 percent the company it hoped to achieve for the full year.