News

Capriotti's franchise group changes name, adds board members

November 18, 2014

Dixie Foods International Inc., a Papa John's and Capriotti's Sandwich Shops franchisee, has changed its name to Preferred Restaurant Brands. The company has also added six members to its board of directors.

CEO Ken Antos said 'Preferred Restaurant Brands' better reflects the company's mission.

As franchisee of Capriotti's Sandwich Shops and Papa John's pizza shops and the owner and eventual franchisor of various Alex Stratta-related brands, we are building a multi-brand company that will provide economic operational approaches to rents, construction and management overhead," he said in a news release.

The following individuals were elected to the board, joining existing members Antos and Donald Porges:

Richard Doermer has been involved as an investor and advisor to various early stage companies in the biotech, entertainment, restaurant and software industries since 2006.
Richard Groberg has served as DIXI's VP, secretary, treasurer and CFO since June 4, 2014. He is also the CFO of KCI Investments.
Michael Liu has extensive business and financial experience working on cross-cultural business projects involving Chinese companies. Since 2009, Liu has worked in an Investment Advisory and International Business Consultation role for a Fortune 500 company.
Herbert Press currently serves in DIXI's management as SVP of Real Estate and Construction for DIXI's KCI Investments LLC subsidiary.
Paul Robichaux currently serves as the CEO of Robichaux Equipment, and also serves in various executive and/or Board with various for-profit and not-for-profit entities roles.
Louisiana State Senator Gary L. Smith Jr. currently serves as the State Senator for District 19 of the state of Louisiana.

Headquartered in Las Vegas, Preferred Restaurant Brands, through its recently acquired KCI Investments LLC, currently operates 13 franchised Capriotti's Sandwich Shops in Nevada, Texas and Southern California. KCI also currently manages Elements Fine Casual Dining & Cocktails, and has a number of additional Capriotti's locations and one Alex Stratta Italian Steakhouse in various phases of development and construction.

Preferred Restaurant Brands also recently announced an agreement in principal to acquire two Papa John's locations in the Fresno, California, area and currently has seven additional locations under construction in the Fresno and Sacramento areas as part of its Area Development Agreements with Papa John's International to build at least 25 locations by the end of 2015.