Experienced industry executive to guide fast-growing brand’s growth
Twin Peaks announced today that industry veteran Starlette Johnson has agreed to join the company as CEO, allowing company founder Randy DeWitt to spend more time on his various other restaurant ventures. Since founding Twin Peaks 10 years ago and growing it to 68 locations, the prolific concept creator has developed six other full-service concepts comprising 11 restaurants in the greater Dallas area.
“Bringing Starlette on board allows me more time to focus on my first love, creating and developing new restaurants, while providing Twin Peaks with the strong dedicated leader it deserves,” DeWitt said. “Starlette is a proven leader and strategic thinker who is the perfect person to help us take Twin Peaks to the next level of growth.”
Johnson, who spent several years leading Brinker International’s strategic planning and acquisitions functions, has served as a strategic advisor to Twin Peaks since January. She first worked with DeWitt in 2001 after Brinker acquired his Rockfish Grill chain. Johnson will report to an advisory board that includes DeWitt, who will continue to partner with her on key brand initiatives.
“I am excited to have the chance to partner with Randy and lead a very talented team,” Johnson said. “Randy has an uncanny sense of where the consumer is going, which will be invaluable as we work to further enhance the Twin Peaks brand. We’ll continue to focus on elevating the experience for our guests, which will create new growth opportunities for our people and partners.”
A restaurant industry consultant since 2011, Johnson serves on the board of Chuy’s Inc., a full-service casual Mexican chain, and SusieCakes, a growing home-style bakery chain. Previously she served as President & Chief Operating Officer of Dave & Buster’s, the 60-unit entertainment and restaurant chain. At Brinker Johnson was Chief Strategic Officer & Executive Vice President at Brinker International. She began her career as director of finance for PepsiCo’s KFC division.
Founded in 2005 in the Dallas suburb of Lewisville by successful restaurant veterans Randy DeWitt and Scott Gordon, Twin Peaks is the premiere sports viewing atmosphere featuring made-from-scratch food, the coldest beer in the business, friendly servers and the latest in high-definition TVs. Twin Peaks was recently named “America’s Fastest Growing Restaurant Chain” by Bloomberg Businessweek. The national chain currently has 73 locations throughout 24 states. For more information, including locations and franchise information, visit www.twinpeaksrestaurant.com.
