Kathy Benning, chief strategy officer at Buffalo Wild Wings, has left the restaurant company, a shake-up in its executive suite after an activist investor publicly called for a change in direction.
Benning's "responsibilities have been absorbed as part of an organizational change within the company," Buffalo Wild Wings said in a statement Monday. "We wish her well as she pursues other career opportunities and thank her for her service to the company."
Benning, 53, joined Buffalo Wild Wings in 1997 and in recent years helped it expand beyond it chicken-and-sports themed outlets with investments in PizzaRev and R Taco, formerly Rusty Taco. The company opened PizzaRev locations in Edina and Hopkins with plans for opening an additional 25. Those plans were later scrapped.
R Taco currently has 13 locations nationwide, including three Twin Cities locations and more opening next year, including Eagan.
Marcato Capital Management, a San Francisco hedge fund that purchased 5.1 percent of the Golden Valley-based company in July, has urged its board and executives to focus on its chicken-oriented restaurants.
Marcato founder Richard "Mick" McGuire in August said he believed there might be room in the U.S. and Canada for more than the 1,700 restaurants that Buffalo Wild Wings estimates it can build in the two countries. The company now has about 1,200 locations.
John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633
