Fast Forward: Women of Fast Casual

Why Corner Bakery CMO upgraded supply chain, launched brand refresh

CMO Donna Spangler-Josephson brings a lot to the table at Corner Bakery, including an "operator's point of view," which she honed during her first gig in the restaurant industry.

Donna Spangler-Josephson joined Corner Bakery two years ago as CMO.

August 13, 2019 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

CMO Donna Spangler-Josephson brings a lot to the table at Corner Bakery — a Dallas-based chain, with more than 180 units, that specialize in pastries, breads and light meals — including an "operator's point of view," which she honed during her first gig in the restaurant industry.

In 1995, she was recruited by a Chick-fil-A operator to be a unit marketing director. "I was very fortunate to learn the restaurant business from an operator's point of view. I was even more fortunate to learn from a brand that is iconic and so true to their vision," she said in an interview with FastCasual.

Spangler-Josephson continues to see things through that operator POV on a daily basis in her role as Corner's CMO, especially when it comes to tackling huge issues, like overhauling Corner's supply chain.

After the long-time lead of its supply chain team retired recently, Corner took the opportunity to expand its partnership with Spendifference, a company that develops supply chain solutions for restaurants.

"They help us leverage our buying power across their portfolio of brands. In addition, they are helping us manage our distribution relationships. It is a dynamic time for the restaurant industry and that includes our distributor partners. Our goal is to become good partners to SYSCO and Spendifference to drive win-win relationships for all of us," she said.

The supply chain upgrade means higher-quality ingredients and new menu offerings, including sandwiches, pastas and salads made with hearty proteins, like oven-roasted, hand-carved turkey, pecan-smoked ham and prime rib.

"We also introduced new breakfast items, including my favorite the Bacon Avocado Egg Bowl," Spangler-Josephson said. "In addition to the new menu offerings, we have also launched delivery in all markets. We are working with the major third-party delivery players so that our consumers can get their favorite Corner Bakery menu items delivered directly to their home or office."

Rebranding with the operator in mind
Now that Corner's supply chain is in order, Spangler-Josephson has moved on to rebranding. Corner had done a lot of research around a re-brand before Spangler-Josephson arrived two years ago, but the execution had stalled. Spangler-Josephson is picking up the baton.

"Our goal is to brighten our guest's day with our delicious food and service, so we wanted to highlight the quality of our food through light, bright photography in addition to brightening the color palette of our brand to better reflect Corner Bakery's essence," she said. "We are actively phasing in our brand image updates and have not fully transitioned all image enhancements – like uniforms and logo updates. We have received positive sentiments from guests thus far on the changes we've implemented and will continue to read guest perceptions in anticipation of additional updates coming soon!"

According to Corner CEO Frank Paci, Spangler-Josephson has been a driving force in returning Corner to its roots. "Donna brings a wealth of experience in strategically building great brands, and we look forward to her leadership in growing the Corner Bakery Cafe brand," he said.

Women in the lead
A third area in which Spangler-Josephson is focused on is helping other women secure leadership opportunities. Her marketing and supply team is led by 86% women, for example.

"As a woman who has had many fabulous opportunities, I believe it is important to help other women find those opportunities because empowering women encourages them to be stronger and more confident to reach their full potential or empowering women encourages diversity of thought," she said. "Unfortunately, in our industry, the gender gap continues to widen with women remaining underrepresented across the corporate landscape. I'd like to see that shift in the future and providing opportunities for others gets us one step closer to achieving this.

Editor's note: This is the first installment of a monthly feature called Fast Forward: "Women of Fast Casual." If you would like to be considered for this feature, please send email to CherryhC@networldmediagroup.com

Operations

About Cherryh Cansler

Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Networld Media Group and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

Connect with Cherryh: