Friendly Ice Cream Corporation announced today that James M. Parrish, a seasoned restaurant executive who most recently served as COOof Church’s Chicken, has joined the company as executive vice president company operations.

Since 2005, Parrish led the operations of Atlanta-based Church’s Chicken 281 stores with a focus on elevating brand standards, staff retention and training, and customer satisfaction. Prior to this, he had a 28-year career with Yum! Brands Inc., where he worked for the company’s Pizza Hut brand. Starting with Pizza Hut as a restaurant manager, Parrish was elevated to area manager then regional manager, where he oversaw the operations of up to 140 restaurants, winning several company awards in recognition of his achievements. In 1998, he was named senior director of product commercialization, where he focused on product development, testing and research, and product introductions. Parrish was then named division vice president of field operations, leading more than 600 restaurants in the East.

“I have worked closely with Jim for years and I am proud to have him by my side as we continue to revitalize and grow the Friendly’s brand,” says Friendly’s Chairman and CEO Harsha V. Agadi.  “Jim’s track record of creating and implementing brand standards that are focused on customer satisfaction, employee performance, and the store experience will be critical to fulfilling our vision for the brand.”

Parrish studied architecture at TexasTechUniversityand holds a certification in Finance from The Fuqua School of Business at DukeUniversity.  Parrish and his family will relocate to Wilbraham, Massachusetts.