3 Questions With Steve Romaniello

Steve Romaniello,
Managing Director of Roark Capital Group

In addition to Managing Director of Roark Capital Group, Steve Romaniello is Chairman of the Board of FOCUS Brands, the franchisor and operator of nearly 2,200 ice cream stores, bakeries, restaurants, and cafés in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 32 foreign countries under the brand names Carvel®, Cinnabon®, Schlotzsky’s®, Moe’s Southwest Grill®, and the franchisor of Seattle’s Best Coffee® on military bases and in certain international markets. Focus Brands also sells its famous ice cream cakes in over 10,000 retail outlets through New Britain, CT-based Celebration Foods, Carvel’s manufacturing and distributing division. Romaniello also serves on the Board of Directors of FASTSIGNS Holding Corporation, the International Franchise Association (IFA), the IFA’s Diversity Institute, and the Atlanta Franchise Alliance.

Prior to joining Roark, Romaniello was President and Chief Executive Officer of FOCUS Brands (2002-2008). Steve joined Carvel in January 2002 as President of the franchise and foodservice division, and led the strategic turnaround of Carvel, one of America’s favorite ice cream brands. During his tenure at Focus Brands, Steve led the acquisition of Cinnabon® and Seattle’s Best Coffee® International in 2004, Schlotzsky’s® in 2006, and Moe’s Southwest Grill® in 2007.

Prior to Focus Brands, Romaniello was President and Chief Operating Officer of US Franchise Systems (USFS). Romaniello helped grow USFS from one brand with 27 hotels in nine states to three brands with over 500 hotels in 47 states and 5 countries. Before joining USFS, Romaniello was a Vice President at Holiday Inn Worldwide’s, responsible for franchise sales, services, support, and training for the 1,700 hotels in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean operating under the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands. During his tenure, Holiday Inn Worldwide increased its franchise from 60 in 1991 to 300 franchises in 1995. From 1988 to 1991, Steve held various positions with Days Inn of America. Romaniello is a graduate of Tufts University.

Since moving over to Roark as a Managing Member, what have been your primary initiatives?
Since moving to Roark my primary initiatives have been to support certain of our franchise portfolio companies, including Focus Brands, Money Mailer, McAlister’s, and Fast Signs (Roark affiliates also control Primrose Schools and Batteries Plus, two other leading franchisors). I have also helped organize the second annual Roark Franchise Summit which brought together 90 executives from our franchise companies for leadership development training and to work on best practices. Finally, I have been helping the team in finding investment opportunities in the franchise space and evaluating and acquiring brands. Roark has over $900 million to invest and we recently announced an agreement to acquire Pet Valu, a leading Canadian based franchisor of specialty retailers selling pet food and pet products.

When do you foresee an improvement in our economic climate?
I think the economy is at or near the bottom though we expect choppy waters on the way back up. Our best guess is that the improvement will be gradual and recent improvements will likely not accelerate until unemployment bottoms out sometime next year.

As a franchisor in Atlanta, what regions have you seen attract the most franchisors and why?
Atlanta is home to a large number of franchise companies- some of the best brands and franchise leaders in the industry are here. One other notable area is Colorado, specifically Denver. While I am not sure what attracted them to the region initially, I think their presence is more visible because the leadership there is top notch and committed to franchising as an industry.

BONUS: Where is your favorite travel spot and why?
Italy! Do you really have to ask why?

Interested in connecting with Steve Romaniello from Roark Capital Group, (404) 591-5215, http://www.roarkcapital.com/; stever@roarkcapital.com.

Three Questions, interviews conducted by Stan Friedman, President and Co-Founder of RetroTax, appears twice a month exclusively at http://www.retrofacts.blogspot.com/.