ATLANTA, Aug. 12, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Church's Chicken(tm), a division of AFC Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:AFCEE), today announced that Nana Mensah, a 15-year industry veteran of Long John Silver's and PepsiCo, has been named Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Mensah will replace Barbara Timm-Brock, who resigned recently to pursue other interests.
In his new role, Mensah, age 51, will be responsible for leading day-to-day domestic operations including delivering financial results, increasing brand value, providing innovative new products, improving customer service and hospitality, and developing programs that foster long-term growth.
"Nana brings a wealth of experience, a broad skill set and an impressive track record of accomplishment," said Church's president, Hala Moddelmog. "We are very excited to welcome him to the Church's executive team."
Mr. Mensah joins Church's Chicken with extensive operational and strategic planning experience having served as President and COO of Long John Silver's Restaurants, Inc. There he was responsible for global operating and strategic business initiatives including quality products, customer service, cost controls, margin improvement and productivity. Prior to joining Long John Silver's, Mensah was Senior Vice President of Operations and Concept Development for PepsiCo Restaurants International, a division of PepsiCo, Inc. He has also held the title of Vice President and General Manager, Northeast for KFC and was a franchisee for Wendy's Hamburgers in Fountain Valley, California.
Most recently, Mensah served as CEO of 'Xport's, Inc., an agency specializing in exporting US manufactured food packaging and processing equipment to distributors and wholesalers throughout Latin America. A graduate of Cape Coast University in Ghana with a B.S. in science, physics and mathematics, Mensah earned a master's in econometrics from the London School of Economics in Aldwych, England.
About Church's Chicken
Church's Chicken, one of the world's largest quick-service chicken restaurant concepts, focuses on high quality food served at a value price. Menu specialties include Southern-style chicken and side items such as corn on the cob, fried okra, mashed potatoes and gravy, and signature Honey-Butter Biscuits. Church's Chicken has more than 1,500 locations worldwide driving system-wide sales of approximately $900 million in 2001. Visit Church's Chicken on the World Wide Web at www.churchs.com.
About AFC Enterprises
AFC Enterprises, Inc. is the franchisor and operator of 4,006 restaurants, bakeries and cafes as of July 14, 2003, in the United States, Puerto Rico and 35 foreign countries under the brand names Popeyes(r) Chicken & Biscuits, Church's Chicken(tm), Cinnabon(r) and the franchisor of Seattle's Best Coffee(r) in Hawaii, on military bases and internationally. AFC's primary objective is to be the world's Franchisor of Choice(r) by offering investment opportunities in highly recognizable brands and exceptional franchisee support systems and services. AFC Enterprises had system-wide sales of approximately $2.7 billion in 2002 and can be found on the World Wide Web at www.afce.com.