Miami, June 11, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GRILLiT, Inc. (the "Company") (OTC Pink Markets: GRLT) today announced that it has elected Mr. Rob Elliott to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Mr. Elliott has served in senior executive or consulting roles for the following companies: Little Caesars Pizza, Quiznos, Friendly's Restaurants, Firehouse Subs, Papa Murphy's Pizza, and Hungry Howies Pizza.
Mr. Elliott is an accomplished senior marketing executive recognized for the development of several successful brands through the implementation of aggressive business strategies, focused creative materials and solid media planning. GRILLiT plans to leverage Mr. Elliott's 25 years of experience in restaurant franchise system development, marketing, branding, and operations in order to help carry out its strategic expansion plan for its chain of healthy, fast-casual restaurant locations.
"I am pleased to be a part of this growing company," said Mr. Elliott. "I have been a part of several large success stories in the restaurant chain sector, and to get the chance to step in at this initial stage of GRILLiT is a great opportunity for me. I believe the Company has a fantastic concept, approach, and team with the potential to develop into a significant player in this industry."
Mr. Elliott served as Vice President of Marketing for Little Caesars Pizza from 1979 to 1996, the period of the company's most significant growth. The Little Caesars brand was established under his direction, and he was instrumental in expanding the number of store locations from 150 to 5,000 under his guidance and leadership.
Mr. Elliott served as Executive Vice President of Marketing for Quiznos Corporation from 1999 to 2002. While there, he directed all marketing and advertising disciplines including creative, media and promotions with full profit and loss responsibility. His accomplishments include leading the expansion effort in growing store locations from 200 to 2,000, increasing average sales volume by double digits, and overseeing the advertising budget (local and national), which grew from $4 million to $35 million.
From 2002 to 2004 Mr. Elliott was Executive Vice President of Marketing for Papa Murphy's Corporation, where he was responsible for all marketing disciplines including brand strategy and positioning, product development, creative execution and media placement. While at Papa Murphy's, he was instrumental in creating and building a new brand for the company, which included everything from establishing core values to creating the new retail store design and environmental graphics. The execution of this turn-around plan resulted in double-digit sales increases in 2004 and 2005.
Mr. Elliott most recently serves as Vice President of Strategic Marketing for Hungry Howies Pizza, which currently operates over 545 locations in 21 states. From 2009 to 2011 Mr. Elliott served as Group Director for Zimmerman Advertising, and as a senior member of the account team, where he managed all internal advertising disciplines for several restaurant brands. He is the owner and President of Elliott Adworks, a full-service advertising agency, which he founded in 2004. His clients have included, among others, Quiznos, Zoup!, and Spicy Pickle.
About GRILLiT
GRILLiT operates two healthy, fast-casual restaurants located at:
Airpark Plaza, 5799 Northwest 7th Street, Miami, Florida 33126
15807 Pines Blvd, Pembroke Pines, Florida 33027
Both are located in high traffic shopping plazas anchored by Publix Super Markets. Food styles include American, Asian Fusion, and Latin American. GRILLiT specializes in great atmosphere, casual dining and freshly prepared, delicious made-to-order lunch and dinner options. The Company is focused on expansion throughout Florida and the southeastern United States and nationwide franchising opportunities. For more information, please visit www.grillitinc.com.
Media services by: Vitello Capital Ltd.
Forward Looking Statements:
Statements in this press release that are not purely historical facts, including statements regarding GRILLiT's beliefs, expectations, intentions or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1996. Such statements consist of any statement other than a recitation of historical fact and can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plan", "may", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate" or "continue" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. The reader is cautioned that all forward-looking statements are speculative, and there are certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ from those referred to in such forward-looking statements. This disclosure highlights some of the important risks regarding our business. Specifically, the reader should not place undue reliance on statements regarding our ability to attract and retain senior personnel at our new locations, capitalize on the growth of the fast casual dining sector and implement our five year plan. Additionally, there are number of other risk factors relating to our business more fully explained identified by us in our filings with the OTC Markets, which are available through http://www.otcmarkets.com.