SAN DIEGO — David Qualls, longtime president and chief financial officer of Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., parent company of Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes restaurants, has announced he will retire at the end of 2007.
Qualls, a 22-year veteran of the company, has been a member of the Garden Fresh team through the terms of three chief executive officers. He helped implement distribution and in-store systems and has served as a primary strategist in all financial transactions and negotiations. Qualls also is credited with directing company initiatives including the current Central Kitchen model for food preparation and distribution to restaurants.
"Dave has certainly made a huge contribution in guiding the company through eight major financings, including four rounds of venture financing, two public offerings and two private equity transactions," said Michael Mack, CEO of Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. "Beyond that, Dave has been integral to the successful growth of our business and an invaluable partner to me in the development of our overall strategy. He will be missed by everyone at Garden Fresh."
Garden Fresh has named Ken Keane, previously vice president of marketing, and Greg Keller, previously senior vice president of operations, as company co-presidents.
The appointment of Keane and Keller as co-presidents is a first for the company. Keane joined Garden Fresh in 1986 as a restaurant manager and climbed through the ranks, holding positions such as director of training, director of operations, vice president of human resources and vice president of marketing. Keller has served as Garden Fresh's senior vice president of operations since 1991, overseeing day to day operations and the growth of the company's Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes restaurants.
Garden Fresh recently opened its 100th restaurant in Desert Ridge, Ariz., and has laid out an accelerated growth program for the remainder of 2007 and 2008. Plans call for the opening of approximately eight to 10 Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes stores per year in existing markets and the premiere of Sweet Tomatoes in Dallas in the third quarter of 2007.
In April, a Lake Forest, Calif., Souplantation was closed for several weeks after an E coli. outbreak at the restaurant in March. Fifteen people were exposed to the bacteria, but food samples taken from the restaurant tested negative for E. coli. Local health authorities said they may never know what food caused the 15 customers to get sick, but the restaurant's health permit was reinstated.
