Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is making waves in the market on Monday after it announced that it would be adding to its executive staff. The company announced the hiring of Curt Garner as Chief Information Officer (CIO). Garner, who held the same position at Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX), will join Chipotle effective November 23, and become the company’s first CIO.
Prior to joining Chipotle, Garner served as CIO at Starbucks, where he held a variety of positions in the company’s information technology group for the duration of his 18 years with the company. During his time at Starbucks, Garner’s work on technology infrastructure began when the company had fewer than 2,000 stores, and continued through its development of the infrastructure to support a global business that is recognized as a leader in digital platform technology.
Even before Starbucks, Garner held a technology leadership position at Wendy’s.
Steve Ells, founder, Chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said:
We are changing the way people think about and eat fast food. Inherent in that vision is our quest to provide the very best restaurant experience we can. As we look for ways to create efficiencies in our restaurants and improve the customer experience through the strategic use of technology, Curt’s experience and expertise make him an ideal and welcome addition to our management team.
Garner commented on the announcement:
Chipotle is a tremendous company with an important mission and remarkably loyal customers. I am thrilled to join such a dynamic organization at a time when investments in technology infrastructure can help the company create a technology platform that is on par with the leadership they have already established in terms of their food culture, people culture, and unit economic model.
Shares of Chipotle were up 1.8% at $745.99 on Monday afternoon. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $770.38 and a 52-week trading range of $597.33 to $758.61.
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