Ike’s Love & Sandwiches is restructuring and growing the company’s California-based team with new executive hires. Michael Goldberg has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Ike’s Love & Sandwiches joining Ike Shehadeh, founder and president.

“Ike and I are excited to announce a new organizational structure and partnership that will support our brand and enable our future growth,” says Goldberg. “Ike’s Love & Sandwiches is a nationally recognized brand that thrives on the love of our fans and our amazing sandwiches.  As we look to fuel our positive sales and rapid growth, we are now well positioned with experienced executives to drive the business forward.”

Goldberg joins Ike’s from an eight-year tenure at the multi-unit Chicago-style fast casual pizza restaurant, Fresh Brothers Pizza. As the COO, Goldberg was responsible for full store plans, operations, HR and P&L and used his keen negotiating skills to secure financing from private investors. In eight years, the business grew to $16 million and won the 2012 Independent Pizzeria of the Year Award from Pizza Today Magazine.

“I’m thankful and thrilled to have an industry veteran and entrepreneurial leader join the family here at Ike’s,” says Shehadeh. “We have strong unit economics and have increased sales by 50 percent year-over-year, not only because of our fanatic guests, but because of our distinguished internal team.  Michael will continue to make the brand and business a household name for sandwich lovers near and far.” 

In addition, Ike selected seasoned marketing executive and growth specialist, Renae Scott, as Chief Marketing Officer of Ike’s Love & Sandwiches. Scott has been at the helm of several fast-casual concepts as a valued marketing executive. For seven years, she served as the CMO of Togo’s Sandwiches, a 250-unit West Coast franchise chain, and previously, she was the Vice President of Media and Field Marketing at Carl’s Jr.  Most recently, she serves as a shared CMO across several growing brands.

Ike’s restructuring will help support several key initiatives that are already driving sales and traffic for the brand. A focus on off-site sales is being led by new VP of Operations, Will Coulehan. In addition, the company is aligning around more profitable third-party sales and is negotiating with several partners.  Finally, social media promotion and PR is being elevated with Scott leading the charge.

So far this year, Ike’s has opened over 20 locations and expects to have 80 restaurants opened by the end of 2019. Today, the sandwich chain has over 70 locations open and is on track to reach 100 locations in operation by the end of 2020. Ike’s holds strong unit economics and has seen increased sales by 50 percent year-over-year because of the fanatic guests who love the audacious brand, craveable sandwiches with secret Dirty Sauce and expansive vegan menu.