Sbarro tapping into local talent base after moving HQ to Columbus

View Photos

Dan Eaton

Sbarro CEO David Karam says he's "excited about where we are, but we still have a lot of work in front of us."

Dan Eaton

Staff reporter- Columbus Business First

Email  |  Google+  |  LinkedIn  |  Other

The future of Sbarro LLC is starting in Columbus.

The food court pizza chain is settled into its Central Ohio offices after having survived rising debt, slumping sales and two Chapter 11 bankruptcies in three years. The company is ready to move forward with not just a new home, but new leaders and new plans.

"I'm excited about where we are, but we still have a lot of work in front of us," CEO David Karam told me.

Karam is the reason Sbarro now calls Columbus home. He's a Wendy's Co. veteran. One of his family's business, Cedar Enterprises Inc., has been a Wendy's (NASDAQ:WEN) franchisee since 1975 and is one of the burger chain's largest. He also spent three years as the Dublin-based company's president. He joined Sbarro's board of directors in 2012 and took over CEO duties in March 2013.

"We needed about eight months of sizing things up," Karam said. "It was pretty obvious early on that even though Sbarro had gone through a restructuring, it was going to need it again. There was too much debt on the books. Sales and traffic declines were too steep."

The company closed 150 company-owned Sbarros in February and followed that with its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, which it exited by June with its debt load lighter and plans to relocate its offices to Cedar's building on Dublin Road. That brought 40 jobs to Columbus, many at the executive level.

That decision was easy, Karam said. The office space was available and it was cheaper and more efficient to be based here. Plus Columbus is a good proving ground for restaurants and an ideal place to test new ideas for the brand.

More on the plans soon, but first the team. It's not just new offices, but new leaders. Karam tapped into the local restaurant talent base, including Chief Concept Officer Gerard Lewis, who led product innovation for Wendy's and oversaw that department when it developed the popular pretzel bacon cheeseburger. There are also veterans of Bob Evans Farms Inc. (NASDAQ:BOBE) and Tim Hortons Inc.'s Dublin-based U.S. operations.

Dan Eaton covers retailing and restaurants for Columbus Business First.