Sbarro Appoints New President of Franchising for North America

Sbarro, the quick-service Italian restaurant company, today announced that it has named Randy M. Clifton as president, franchising of North America.

Clifton, who brings 25 years of restaurant and hospitality experience, joins Sbarro from Uno Restaurant Corporation, where he served as senior vice president of franchising. At Sbarro, he will lead the company's domestic North American efforts and will work to provide support and enhance communications across its network of approximately 300 domestic franchises. Additionally, he will lead initiatives to increase the number of Sbarro franchises in North America, and will implement standardized franchise procedures, policies and strategies among the current franchises.

"Randy is a tremendous addition to our senior management team and brings with him a proven track record of developing successful franchise programs for some of the nation's most respected restaurant and hospitality brands," said Peter Beaudrault, president and CEO of Sbarro. "In recent years, we have enjoyed remarkable success growing Sbarro's franchise presence everywhere from malls, airports and hotels to rest stops, casinos and universities. Randy will play a pivotal role as we look to continue our momentum and enter a new phase of nationwide expansion."

In his former position as senior vice president of franchising at Uno Restaurant Corporation, Clifton was responsible for directing the domestic and international franchise activity for more than 90 units. His other duties included managing day-to-day activities such as legal documentation preparation, lead generation, contract negotiations, transaction closing, operations, new unit openings, management training, and design and construction. Previously, Clifton served as vice president of sales and business development for the Arnold Palmer Golf Management Company where he created the first golf course branded franchise system in the golf industry.

Prior to Arnold Palmer, Clifton spent 17 years at Carlson Company, working for several of the organization's brands including Country Hospitality, Inc., TGI Friday's, Inc., and Radisson Hotel Corporation. Clifton acted as senior vice president of development at Country Hospitality and directed all international and domestic development activity for the 65-property hotel chain and 250-unit restaurant company. As vice president of development at TGI Friday's, he led franchise, joint venture and management contracts from initial contact though negotiations and execution. In five and a half years, he grew revenues to $175 million domestically and $75 million internationally from a start-up position and doubled the number of units. Clifton held various roles at Radisson Hotel Corporation including regional vice president, director of research and product development, and director of employee staffing.

Earlier in his career, Clifton held positions at Denny's Restaurants as regional personnel manager and Marriott Corporation as regional operations and training manager in the restaurant division.

Clifton will continue to live in Marlborough, Massachusetts with his family.