Seattle’s Best Coffee announced that John M. Wuycheck was named vice president of Franchise Business Development. In this position, Wuycheck will lead the continued expansion of the brand’s franchising program in the U.S. Wuycheck’s appointment is part of Starbucks Corporation’s continued focus on growing the brand, which included the recent appointment of Michelle Gass as president of Seattle’s Best Coffee.
“We are very excited to welcome John to the Seattle’s Best Coffee team. His extensive experience in franchising major brands in the U.S., the strong results he was able to achieve, and his understanding of the issues related to a growing franchise system make him uniquely qualified to lead this new business,” Gass says. “We are highly encouraged by the overwhelming response we have had to the expansion of our franchising program and look forward to bringing Seattle’s Best Coffees to more specialty coffee customers.”
Prior to his recent role as vice president of sales for KLMM’s Hydration Technologies, Wuycheck held the role of vice president of development for Kahala Franchise Corporation, franchisor of 12 individual brands including Cold Stone Creamery, Blimpie, and Taco Time. While working with Cold Stone Creamery, Wuycheck was able to help grow that brand by more than 1,400 stores, and created the first non-traditional opportunities including airports, sports arenas, travel plazas, and amusement parks.
“The opportunity to work with Seattle’s Best Coffee at the early stages of its growing franchise program is energizing,” Wuycheck says. “I am looking forward to working with this incredibly strong team and am excited to share all that Seattle’s Best Coffee has to offer potential franchisees and customers.”