Name: Donna Spangler-Josephson
New title: Chief Brand Officer, Schlotzsky’s
Previous title: Chief Marketing Officer, Shipley’s Do-nuts
GoTo Foods announced the hiring of Donna Spangler-Josephson as CBO at Schlotzsky’s on Wednesday, but she has held the position since June, according to the brand’s 2024 franchise disclosure document. In this role, she is responsible for marketing and operations strategy as well and improving financial growth and “franchise success,” according to the press release.
Spangler-Josephson is taking the role vacated by William Armstrong earlier this year, when he left GoTo to become SVP, Restaurants at 7-Eleven, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Spangler-Josephson, who has over 20 years of restaurant experience, most recently worked as CMO at Shipley Do-nuts, and held the same position at Fazoli’s and at Corner Bakery Cafe. She also worked at Wendy’s, Applebee’s and Chick-fil-A in various leadership roles. Spangler-Josephson was vice president of marketing at McAlister’s Deli, also a GoTo Foods brand, from 2012 to 2016, according to the press release.
Shelley Harris, the restaurant category president at GoTo, said Spangler’s “leadership will be invaluable as the brand accelerates sales growth and development expansion.”
The deli brand has shrunk slowly over the last few years, according to its FDD, with the number of franchised units falling from 310 in 2021 to 295 at the end of 2023. Company-owned units declined from 23 to 22 in the same time period. The brand’s median sales volume at franchised locations is only about $1.1 million for drive-thru stores and over $800,000 for units without drive-thrus. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Schlotzsky’s designed prototypes for smaller restaurants with double drive-thrus, as it sought to adjust to changing consumer patterns.
GoTo, which is owned by Roark Capital, the same company that owns Inspire Brands and Subway, recently saw McAlister’s breach $1 billion in sales. In March, GoTo announced the appointment of a new franchising SVP, Bobby Morena to oversee franchising development across the company. In February, GoTo changed its name from Focus Brands, ostensibly to emphasize the value of its brand portfolio.
