Trenary becomes company’s third leader since 1973
Golden Corral, the nation’s leading grill buffet chain, announces the appointment of Lance Trenary as President and Chief Executive Officer effective January 1. Trenary, who started in his family’s restaurant business at an early age washing dishes, moved up the ranks at Golden Corral the last 29 years, serving most recently as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Trenary will take over for retiring CEO Ted Fowler, who has held the top position with the company since 1989.
“I’m humbled and very excited to lead Golden Corral through the next chapters of our success,” Trenary said. “Although we face our share of challenges, I am more optimistic than ever because of the strength of the brand, the quality of the team I am fortunate to lead and the legacy of success we will build on. For 43 years, our mission has been ‘Making Pleasurable Dining Affordable,’ and as long as we stay focused on our passion for food, the quality of our people and the value we offer, we will continue to grow.”
“Lance is admired and respected throughout our system and the entire restaurant industry by his colleagues and peers,” said Ted Fowler, Golden Corral’s retiring CEO. “Lance has a vision for this company that excites everyone around him. I leave the top job at Golden Corral in good hands with a leader we’re confident can take us to the next level.”
Leadership Legacy
Trenary will become Golden Corral’s third CEO since the first restaurant opened its doors back in 1973. Before Ted Fowler, James Maynard, the company founder, held the position. Golden Corral started in 1973 as one restaurant in Fayetteville, N.C., and today has grown to 501 locations in 41 states. Four hundred restaurants are franchisee owned and 101 are company owned.
Trenary started in the restaurant business at 9 years old, washing dishes in his father’s restaurants. In 1985, he started with Golden Corral as a restaurant partner manager and climbed up the corporate ladder with promotions to District Manager, Director of Operations, Division President, VP of Development, Senior VP of Company Operations and most recently as Chief Operating Officer. He is known for his humble, approachable leadership style and deep understanding of Golden Corral customers and what makes them tick. It was Trenary who brought the famous chocolate fountain to Golden Corral after he spotted something similar at a Chinese buffet in the Midwest. At that restaurant, he saw folks waiting in long lines to dip strawberries into a chocolate fountain. He brought the idea to Golden Corral, and today the famous Chocolate Wonderfall is a sweet success.
“Through all the moves and job changes, my wife and daughters have been the most important part of my life,” he said. “I get very emotional talking about them, but I’m very fortunate to have a beautiful family and a job I love. Not bad for a busboy from Mississippi.”
Golden Corral, based in Raleigh, N.C., is the nation’s largest grill-buffet restaurant chain with 500 restaurants operating in 41 states as of January 1, 2015. Seventy-five percent of the restaurants are operated by franchisees. Golden Corral is famous for its variety, with most restaurants carrying 160 innovative and delicious food choices including USDA steaks cooked to order, rotisserie chicken, awesome pot roast and desserts like homemade carrot cake and the Chocolate Wonderfall.
The company has received numerous awards and distinctions including: No. 1 in the Buffet Restaurant Category three years in a row in Entrepreneur Magazine’s prestigious Franchise 500 Ranking, No. 1 in the Grill-Buffet segment for 14 years by Nation’s Restaurant News, named ALLStar Franchise in 2010 by ALLBusiness and in 2009 Restaurants & Institutions ranked Golden Corral No. 1 in Consumer’s Choice in cafeteria/buffet chains.
Golden Corral’s first restaurant opened in 1973 in Fayetteville, N.C., as a family steakhouse. In the mid-’80s, guests’ requests for additional entrees and an expanded salad bar prompted the company to reinvent itself by introducing the 400-seat “Buffet and Grill.”
