DALLAS, March 10, 2004 - T.G.I. Friday's® restaurants recognized its top achievers at the annual T.G.I. Friday's Global Leadership Conference held in Orlando, Fla. More than 1,000 Friday's® franchise owners, operators, general managers and supplier partners representing the 55 countries that T.G.I. Friday's operates in, gathered for the annual conference which was held in mid-February.
Overall General Manager of the Year
Overall General Manager of the Year, T.G.I. Friday's U.S.A. - Tracy Staples, W. Kissimmee, Fla.
Overall GM of the Year, T.G.I. Friday's U.S.A. Franchise - Bill Guenthner, Atlanta Airport
Overall GM of the Year, International - Francisco Peña, Santa Domingo
General Manager of the Year
GM of the Year, East Division - Mike Jones, Fairfax, Va.
** This was Jones second consecutive win as GM of the Year for the East division
GM of the Year, East Franchise - Bruce Mahnke, Quakertown, Penn.
GM of the Year, West Division - Dan Straton, Tyler, Tex.
GM of the Year, West Franchise - Jesus De La Torre, Ontario, Calif.
GM of the Year, Midwest Division - Glenn Bucello, Buffalo, New York
GM of the Year, Midwest Franchise - T.J. Olson, Madison, Wisc.
GM of the Year, Southeast Franchise - Russ Terpening, Orange Park, Fla.
GM of the Year, Non-Traditional Location - Ron Hoffbeck, Minneapolis Airport
GM of the Year, UK/Europe/Africa/Middle East - Neeraj Mehra, Kuwait City, Kuwait
GM of the Year, Europe/Scandinavia - Vangelis Dousakis, Pragrati Mall, Athens, Greece
GM of the Year, Asia/Pacific - Janet Tworkowski, Epping Plaza, Melbourne
Richmond, Virg.-based United Restaurant Group received recognition as T.G.I. Friday's U.S.A. Franchise Group of the Year. United Restaurant Group and their general managers took several other honors during the award ceremonies - Darrin Blanchette, general manager of the T.G.I. Friday's in Newport News, Virg. received recognition for employee retention achievement, Beth Keating, general manager of the Virginia Beach Friday's was honored for divisional sales achievement and United Restaurant Group took the honors for T.G.I. Friday's U.S.A. Franchise Developer of the Year and Highest Percentage of Comp Store Sales Growth (more than $20 million in sales).
Eau Claire, Wisc.-based Wisconsin Bistros and their general managers received several honors including Ethan Erickson's recognition as T.G.I. Friday's Franchise Operator of the Year. General Manager Paul Voelz of Brookfield, Wisc. was recognized for divisional sales achievement and Wisconsin Bistros was honored for Highest Percentage of Comp Store Sales (under $20 million in sales).
Highest Annual Sales/T.G.I. Friday's U.S.A. (corporate restaurant) was awarded to Westbury, New York, and the U.S.A. franchise restaurant recipient was Tampa International Airport.
Other recognition for general managers included the following:
Employee Retention Achievement
John Moresco - Everett, Mass.
Mike Crotzer, Buffalo/Eastern Hills, New York
Tracy Staples - West Kissimmee, Fla.
Dan Straton - Tyler, Tex.
Sharon Berkebile - Columbus/Tuttle Crossing, Ohio
Darrin Blanchette - Newport News, Virg.
Heather Garvin - Kalamazoo, Mich.
Travis Webb - Gatlinburg, Tenn.
Paul Blough - Riverside, Cal.
Bill Guenthner - Atlanta Airport
Profit Achievement
John Pappas -- Wallkill, New York
Brian Sawyer - Thornton, Col.
Kathleen Jones - Miami/Dolphin Mall, Fla.
Lance Hornsby - Houston/Town & Country, Tex.
Jim Duckworth - Friday's Front Row Sports Grill, Phoenix, Ariz.
Kip Meyer - Tom's River, New Jersey
Tom Roccaforte - Bedford Park, Ill.
Calvin Clay - Pensacola, Fla.
Jorge Altamiramo - North Orange, Cal.
Bayardo Peña - Tampa International Airport
Sales Achievement
Mike Jones - Fairfax, Virg.
Bill Taylor - Naperville, Ill.
Tracy Staples - W. Kissimmee, Fla.
Mike VanSyckle - Corpus Christi, Tex.
Ron Hoffbeck - Minneapolis Airport
Beth Keating - Virginia Beach, Virg.
Paul Voelz - Brookfield, Wisc.
Ken Nosse - St. Augustine, Fla.
Jesus De La Torre - Ontario, Cal.
Bill Guenthner - Atlanta Airport
Guest Experience Achievement
Phil Krumpter - Lake Grove, New York
Randy Jones - Eau Claire, Wisc.
Scott Pennington - Greenville, South Carolina
Dan Straton - Tyler, Tex.
Tom Willoughby - Tampa International Mall
Calvin Clay - Pensacola, Fla.
Curtis Orwig, N. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Several directors of operations received recognition in the following categories:
Outstanding Regional Sales Achievement - Corey Balzer, director of operations/Southeast
Outstanding Regional Profit Achievement - Louis Quartochi, director of operations/East
Outstanding Regional Hourly Retention - Joe Causse, director of operations/Midwest
Outstanding Regional Quality Achievement - John Ryan, director of operations/Southeast
T.G.I. Friday's U.S.A. Director of Operations of the Year - Corey Balzer
T.G.I. Friday's U.S.A. Franchise Director of Operations of the Year - Andy Simpson
T.G.I. Friday's International Director of Operations of the Year - Kevin Goggins
T.G.I. Friday's U.S.A. Division of the Year - East Division
International Awards
Whitbread PLC, the first international T.G.I. Friday's franchisee, was honored as International Franchise Group of the Year, Highest Annual Sales and Highest Annual Guest Count for their Bluewater, U.K. restaurant.
The Brasilia, Brazil T.G.I. Friday's received recognition for Highest Comp Sales Increase. Vladimir Polsky, RIGS Services Limited, was honored as International Franchise Operator of the Year. FoodStar, Inc., which owns and operates 27 T.G.I. Friday's, was honored as International Franchise Developer of the Year.
The prestigious Karl Davis Award was presented to Andrew Roach Reddy, Managing Director with ChasWood Resources Sda.Bhd. This award was established in honor of Karl Davis, deceased, owner and president of The Bistro Group, a licensed franchisee of TGI Friday's Inc. "Karl Davis was not only a remarkable businessman and entrepreneur, he was a man of vision," said Richard Snead, president and CEO of Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, parent of T.G.I. Friday's. "We honor him with an award in his name that reflects his expertise and spirit." Snead continued, "Andrew embodies the spirit of vision and determination this award signifies."
Supplier Partner Awards
Trinity Valley Foods was recognized as the Overall Supplier Partner of the Year. David Chasey Photography received Supplier Partner of the Year for Marketing/R&D; Diageo was honored with the Supplier Partner of the Year/International; and Coors Brewing Company received the Supplier Partner of the Year/Operations award.
# # # Note to the editor: Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Inc., the parent company of TGI Friday's Inc., is a privately held company owned by Minneapolis-based Carlson Companies, Inc., a world leader in the hospitality, travel and marketing industries. Carlson Restaurants operates, franchises and licenses more than 800 restaurants in 55 countries, including three divisions - Domestic Friday's Brands (T.G.I. Friday'sÒ, Friday's Front RowÒ Sports Grill and Friday's American BarÒ); International (T.G.I. Friday's®, Friday's American Bar® and Front Row® Sports Grill); and the newest division of Carlson Restaurants, Pick Up StixÒ. Carlson Restaurants Worldwide is included in the Carlson Hospitality Worldwide division of Carlson Companies, Inc. For more information on the Friday's brands, visit www.Fridays.com.
