SEATTLE, April 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MOD Super-Fast Pizza Holdings, LLC (“MOD Pizza”, “MOD” or the “Company”) today announced three executive-level promotions to help position the Company for its continued, rapid expansion. Paul Twohig, who joined MOD in 2017 as Chief Operating Officer (“COO”), will assume the dual role of President and COO. Additionally, Lisa Luebeck will become Senior Vice President of Legal and General Counsel and Megan Hansen will be elevated to Senior Vice President of People. These appointments are effective immediately.
“As we continue our journey of building the world’s leading fast casual pizza brand, we will continue to rely on the enormous contributions of Paul, Lisa and Megan. Each of them has been integral to our success over the past few years,” said Scott Svenson, MOD Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder. “Most importantly, they each exemplify MOD’s core values and are strong champions of our mission to use the business to make a positive social impact,” added Ally Svenson, MOD Chief Purpose Officer and Co-Founder.
As President and COO, Twohig will continue to oversee daily Company operations while also leading store development (domestic and international real estate, design and construction), culinary, supply chain, innovation, and international and franchise operations. Twohig has served on the Company’s advisory board since 2008 and formally joined MOD in July 2017. He came to MOD from Dunkin’ Donuts where he served as President, leading US and Canadian operations, franchising and store development for more than 8,500 locations at the time. Twohig was also previously Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Panera Bread and spent a total of 14 years at Starbucks in executive roles in the US and UK.
Luebeck, MOD’s Senior Vice President of Legal and General Counsel, joined MOD in January 2016 as Vice President of Legal and the Company’s first general counsel. At MOD, she has built a strong and scalable legal foundation to protect and grow the brand. Her prior roles include both in-house and outside counsel positions, including serving as an attorney with Dorsey & Whitney for approximately seven years where she obtained vast experience as a corporate and securities lawyer representing a wide range of clients. Luebeck has been named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers.
Hansen, Senior Vice President of People, joined the Company in November 2016 and leads all elements of human resources and talent management for MOD and has successfully built a team capable of managing the incredible growth and development of the MOD Squad across the U.S. Megan will continue to lead the team that handles recruiting, hiring, training, development, compliance, performance management, benefits, people systems and community engagement. Prior to joining MOD, Megan spent four years at Outerwall, where she was Vice President of Talent Management for the Coinstar and Redbox brands, and seven years as Human Resource Director for Frog Design.
MOD recently announced results for 2017, which included system-wide* sales of $275 million (an 81% year-over-year increase), company net revenue of $219 million, the opening of 110 new locations system-wide (ending the year with 302 system-wide operating restaurants), expansion into seven new states, and same-store sales growth of 5.2%. MOD also donated over $1 million to the many communities the company serves, including a $364,000 donation to Generosity Feeds to help feed hungry youth nationwide.
*The term “system-wide” refers to all company-operated and licensed store locations.
ABOUT MOD PIZZA
MOD Pizza, founded in Seattle in 2008 by entrepreneur husband and wife team Scott and Ally Svenson, is a pioneer of the fast-casual pizza segment. MOD’s individual artisan-style pizzas are made on demand, allowing customers to create their own pizzas and salads, using fresh-pressed dough, signature sauces and over 30 toppings, all for one incredible price. With more than 325 locations system-wide across 27 states and the United Kingdom, MOD is committed to creating not only a cool place to eat, but an inspired place to work. The company was recently recognized as the number one mid-sized restaurant chain in the US in the October 2017 Fishbowl Buzz Brands Report, named as the most loved pizza brand by Foodable Network in its May 2017 Most Loved Brands Report, has been ranked as America’s fastest growing chain restaurant by Technomic, earned a spot on the Inc.500 list, and was recognized by Fortune as one of the “20 Best Workplaces in Retail,” a “Best Workplace for Women,” a “Best Workplace for Millennials,” and a “Best Workplace for Diversity.” For more information, please visit www.modpizza.com or connect with the brand via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.