Boennighausen out, Panera president in as Noodles & Co. CEO

BROOMFIELD — Just two days after Noodles & Co.’s (Nasdaq: NDLS) earnings report revealed an ongoing sales slump, the fast-casual pasta restaurant’s CEO, Dave Boennighausen, has been relieved of duty and will be replaced on an interim basis by Panera Bread president Drew Madsen, who has served on Noodles’ board of directors since 2017. 

The decision to move on from Boennighausen was the board’s, the company said. A search for a permanent CEO will begin immediately.

“We are very excited to have Drew step into the interim CEO role and remain on our board. He is a seasoned executive with a deep understanding of our company’s operations and strategy, and has a successful track record as a leader in the restaurant industry,” Noodle’s board chairman Jeff Jones said in a prepared statement. “We have full confidence in his ability to guide the company effectively during this time as we focus on key strategic initiatives to drive top line growth and bottom line results and significantly enhance stockholder value.”

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The immediate departure of Boennighausen, who was promoted to the CEO position in 2017, comes on the heels of Noodles reporting that same-store year-over-year sales fell more than 4% in the third quarter. That slippage came after sales dropped more than 5% in the second quarter. 

Total revenue for the most recent period was $127.9 million, down from $129.4 million in the third quarter of 2022. Noodles posted net income of $700,000 in the third quarter of 2023, down from $800,000 in the same quarter last year. 

In a conference call with investors this week, Boennighausen acknowledged that Noodles’ strategy for pricing — up more than double-digits this year — may have played a role in reducing revenue.

“We do believe that we were too aggressive with price in totality during 2022 as well as early 2023,” he said.

Noodles is working with a consulting group on a pricing study. “They’ll help us optimize the price as we go forward,” Boennighausen said. “At the same time, we will be taking our time. We want to make sure that we test it appropriately (and) complete the research to optimize price for the long term.”