Following her resignation as CEO of Orlando-based Red Lobster after less than a year on the job, Kelli Valade has been named the next CEO and president of Denny’s, another prominent restaurant chain.
Valade’s resignation from Red Lobster was effective April 15. She took over the seafood chain of more than 700 restaurants in August after the retirement of the brand’s longtime leader Kim Lopdrup.
Denny’s CEO John Miller announced his plan to retire on April 8, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Denny’s President Mark Wolfinger also is retiring on June 1.
Valade will take the helm of Denny’s on June 13, according to a news release. Miller’s retirement is effective Aug. 3.
Prior to joining Red Lobster, Valade had been president and CEO of Black Box Intelligence since 2019 and before that she spent more than 22 years at Brinker International, including as brand president for Chili’s Grill & Bar.
Denny’s Miller also previously worked at Brinker International.
San Diego-based restaurant analyst John Gordon noted the speed of Denny’s adding Valade, saying generally a chain restaurant search takes four to six months.
“Given the relative speed that the Denny’s CEO position was filled, there very well may have been a plan in place earlier,” Gordon said.
Denny’s Board of Directors conducted an “extensive search,” said Brenda Lauderback, chair of Denny’s board of directors, in a news release.
“In appointing Kelli, we have found a proven leader in the restaurant industry with the right combination of talent and experience to accelerate the current momentum of the Denny’s brand,” Lauderback said.
Gordon said the move from one full-service restaurant to another is consistent with Valade’s background.
“I think that it speaks to the integrity and the strength of Kelli,” Gordon said. “Red Lobster needs to continue its search for another good CEO.”
Denny’s is based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and has more than 1,600 franchised, licensed and company restaurants.
“Denny’s is a world-class brand that has earned the trust and loyalty of generations of guests as the leading family dining restaurant,” Valade said in the release. “I admire the Company’s guest-first approach and unwavering purpose of loving to feed people.”
In 2020, seafood supplier and Red Lobster stakeholder Thai Union along with a group of investors and Red Lobster management acquired the rest of the seafood restaurant company from private equity firm Golden Gate Capital.
That sale came following concerns from outside analysts over a loan reaching maturity and while the coronavirus pandemic crippled much of the restaurant industry. Red Lobster completed refinancing that debt last year.
The investor group in the deal was named Seafood Alliance and included key shareholder Paul Kenny, former CEO of Asia’s Minor Food. Kenny, a Red Lobster board member, is now expected to be a “liaison” between Red Lobster’s leadership and the board during the transition.
