Staffing

Leadership shake-ups coming at Wingstop, Blaze Pizza?

The rumor mill is churning that Blaze CEO Mandy Shaw (left) may be out, and Wingstop' has confirmed that Stacy Peterson, EVP and chief revenue and technology officer, is leaving the Texas-based brand.

November 10, 2022

Wingstop Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue and Technology Officer Stacy Peterson is stepping down to become the CEO of a "private equity-sponsored, non-competitive company," according to the chain's Nov. 8 SEC filing. Although neither Wingstop or Peterson responded to FastCasual's inquiry about where Peterson was headed, at least one executive thinks she could be taking over at Blaze Pizza.

"Could Stacey be going to Blaze? That's my bet. Amanda Shaw is out," Jim Mizes, former CEO of Blaze, stated in a tweet.

As of press time, Shaw — who joined Blaze as CEO in 2019 after Mizes retired — nor anyone from Blaze returned FastCasual's request for comment.

"We are proud of Stacy and wish her the best in her new role," a Wingstop spokesperson said in an email to FastCasual. "We anticipate initiating a process around identifying the next leaders for technology and marketing. We have an incredibly strong team at Wingstop that we believe will continue to deliver industry leading results."

Peterson joined Wingstop in 2013 as senior vice president of IT. A year later, the brand promoted her to CIO, and in 2017, she took over as CXO. She left in 2019 but returned in 2020.

Charlie Morrison resigned from his CEO role at the brand earlier this year to take the lead role at Arizona-based Salad And Go, where he also serves on its board of directors. Wingstop named its COO and president, Michael Skipworth, as Morrison's successor, and Lynn Crump-Caine, the chain's lead independent director, replaced Morrison as chair.