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Bojangles, Bruster's name franchising, development leaders

September 11, 2019

Both Bojangles and Bruster's have added to their executive teams recently, beginning with Bojangles', Inc. which named Jose R. Costa as its first chief development officer this week. He will oversee the brand's unit growth by recruiting new franchisees and developing real estate and equipment strategy, as well as new restaurant design and construction, a news release said.

"Jose joins our executive team at a pivotal time as Bojangles' charts our strategic path forward," Bojangles CEO Jose Armario said in the release. "His 20 years of experience in marketing, franchising, multi-unit retailing and customer experience for well-known brands will play a crucial role as we define our growth over the next decade."

Most recently, Costa served as North America CEO for GrandVision, following his time as group president of Driven Brands and vice president of marketing, R&D and supply chain at Burger King Latin America and Caribbean Region. He also was president of branding and interactive marketing firm, Costa IMC. 

Costa's appointment is one of several significant executive personnel hires made recently by Bojangles', including Reese Stewart as chief financial officer and Jackie Woodward as chief marketing officer.

Meanwhile, ice cream brand, Bruster's, named Greg Danziger as its senior vice president, Franchise Development, after his 20 years of franchise and business development expertise. He joins Vice President, Franchise Development Kim Ellis and Director, Franchise Development Lori Molnar to form a team with mor than 60 years of experience in the critical area of operation.

Ellis joined Bruster's Real Ice Cream last year and Molnar is an 18-year veteran of the company. Brusters now has nearly 200 independently owned locations in 20 states, Guyana and South Korea.