Today, O’Charley’s Inc. announced that it has named Wilson Craft Concept President of O’Charley’s Restaurants. Wilson’s knowledge of the bar and grill space comes from the 21 years he spent at Brinker International, where he served as the President of Chili’s Grill and Bar. More recently, he worked for Phil Hickey, CHUX’s chairman of the Board, at LongHorn Steakhouse before it was acquired by Darden Restaurants.
Operationally, CHUX is still challenged given the difficult environment. For years the CHUX story has lacked a strong management team. The addition of Wilson Craft to the CHUX management team changes things in that regard. The big question now is how much it will cost him to implement the changes he needs to get the business back on track.
