“John is a proven leader in the restaurant industry who has the talent and experience to build upon our current momentum and accelerate the resurgence of the Denny’s business and brand,” said Louis Neeb, head of the board’s CEO search committee. “We conducted an extensive international search including dozens of highly-qualified candidates and believe that John has the right combination of skills and experience to further our growth and create additional value.”
“Debra has done an outstanding job as interim CEO over the past six months in leading a turnaround at Denny’s and creating considerable forward momentum,” Neeb added. The company is indebted to her and looks forward to her continued guidance and leadership as board chair.”
Miller joins Denny’s management team with more than 30 years of restaurant industry experience. Since 2005, he has served as CEO and president at Taco Bueno Restaurants Inc., an operator and franchisor of quick-service Mexican eateries with 190 units. Prior to He also spent 17 years at Brinker International where he held numerous management positions. From 1997 to 2004, he served as president at Romano’s Macaroni Grill where he helped reverse three years of declining sales and growth, generating 15 consecutive quarters of sales and profit increases, and more than doubling the company’s size. He also served as president of Brinker’s Mexican Concepts, responsible for overseeing On the Border and Cozymel’s, two of the company’s high-growth concepts.
Denny's is one of America's largest full-service family restaurant chains, currently operating more than 1,600 franchised, licensed, and company-owned restaurants across the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, Guam, Puerto Rico and New Zealand.
