James Joseph Greco (born January 4, 1958) is an American businessman. He is the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Tijuana Flats. He has held numerous executive positions in the foodservice industry, as well as various

directorships A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

Early life and education

Greco was born on January 4, 1958, in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, and grew up in nearby

Hamden, Connecticut Hamden is a New England town, town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant (Connecticut), Sleeping Giant". The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, Connecti ...

. He graduated from

Hamden High School Hamden High School is a four-year high school for grades 9 through 12. It is located at 2040 Dixwell Avenue in Hamden, Connecticut. It is part of the Hamden Public School System and is the only public high school within the town of Hamden. The sc ...

in 1976, earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in 1980 and a J.D. from the

University of Miami School of Law The University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law or UM Law) is the law school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. Founded in 1926, it is the oldest law school in South Florida, graduating its first ...

, in 1983. He also completed international studies at City University,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Greco is a member of the

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and

Florida Bar Association The Florida Bar is the integrated, or unified bar organization for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States.

s; and has been on the

boards of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

for the Lender School of Business at

Quinnipiac University Quinnipiac University ( ) is a private university in Hamden, Connecticut, United States. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. It also hosts the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. History What became ...

, Fazoli's Restaurants, Inc., the Connecticut Food Bank, the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, Circle Peak Capital, Share Our Strength: Dine Out, The UCAN Company, and the International Dairy Foods Association."Operating Council"
circlepeakcapital.com. He is on the boards of True Drinks Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded beverage company, Republic Fire Protection, Inc., and the Palm Beach County Food Bank. Additionally, Greco is a managing director at private equity firm Lincoln Road Global Management, a partner at hospitality consulting firm Results Thru Strategy, and president and chief executive officer of foodservice investment firm Pilgrim Holdings. Greco is married and resides in

Delray Beach Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020, was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States Census. Located in the Miami metropolitan area, Delray Beach is 52 miles (83 ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

."Having Words With: James Greco"
''nrn.com''. February 20, 2012 He is the father of two sons, including

Sam Greco Salvatore "Sam" Greco (born 3 May 1967) is an Australian retired full contact karateka, heavyweight K-1 kickboxer, and mixed martial artist. He was the 1994 Karate World Cup champion and holds notable kickboxing victories over Branko Cikati ...

."Having Words With: James Greco"
''nrn.com''. February 20, 2012

Career

After graduating from law school, he was a partner in the Connecticut-based Greco and Greco law firm, from 1983 to 1991, specializing in consultation to and representation of real estate and corporate clients. Greco executed one of his first turnarounds at Ellington,

-based Natural Country Farms, a manufacturer of private label and foodservice fruit juices, where he was COO for five years. Following Natural Country Farms, he worked for seven years as CEO of Fieldbrook Farms, a $100 million manufacturer of private label ice cream in

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. A team of investors, led by Greco, took over a failing Fieldbrook Farms and named him CEO. In that capacity, he successfully designed and executed a strategic plan to turn the company around. His efforts resulted in doubled profits and an increase in productivity.

Bruegger's

Greco joined

Bruegger's Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc. is a restaurant operator and subsidiary of the Luxembourg-based company JAB Holding Company. Bruegger's and its wholly-owned subsidiary Threecaf Brands Canada, Inc., are franchisers and operators of Bruegger's baker ...

as CEO in 2003. Following his arrival, the company achieved over twenty consecutive quarters of positive same store sales and total-sales growth. In 2010, Bruegger's announced $254 million in revenue. Under him, the company expanded to over 300 bakery cafés in 26 states, the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. On November 13, 2009, he oversaw their eleventh and largest acquisition to occur during his tenure, when Bruegger's purchased the holdings of

Timothy's World Coffee Timothy's World Coffee (a.k.a. Timothy's) is a large Canadian coffee roasting company and chain of coffeeshops. Origin and background Timothy's was founded in 1975 as a retailer of premium roasted coffee beans by Timothy Snelgrove and his wife T ...

. Through a wholly owned subsidiary, called Threecaf Brands Canada Inc., Bruegger's assumed control of Timothy's three restaurant brands:

Michel's Bakery Café Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc. is a restaurant operator and subsidiary of the Luxembourg-based company JAB Holding Company. Bruegger's and its wholly-owned subsidiary Threecaf Brands Canada, Inc., are franchisers and operators of Bruegger's bakery ...

, and

mmmuffins Marvellous Mmmuffins, also known as mmmuffins, was a Canadian restaurant chain that sold coffee and muffins. It was established in 1979 and granted its first franchise in 1980. Its popularity peaked in the 1980s and 1990s, when most shopping mal ...

. On October 5, 2009, he was named operator of the year by the

Nation's Restaurant News ''Nation's Restaurant News'' (''NRN'') is an American trade publication, founded in 1967. NRN covers the foodservice industry, including restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Me ...

during the publication's golden anniversary celebration at the 50th anniversary Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators (MUFSO) conference.

Le Duff America

In March 2011,

Groupe Le Duff Groupe Le Duff is a French restaurant conglomerate, with holdings in Europe and the Americas, consisting of over 1,310 restaurants and bakeries. It includes Bridor, La Madeleine, Kamps, Mimi's Cafe, Pizza Del Arte, and Brioche Dorée. The comp ...

, a French restaurant group, acquired the Bruegger's chain and its subsidiaries from the private equity firm

Sun Capital Partners Sun Capital Partners, Inc., is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts. Sun Capital was founded in 1995 by Marc J. Leder and Rodger Krouse, former classmates at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and ...

, earning ownership a return of 36% per year, or 13 times, on its investment and making Groupe Le Duff the second largest bakery café group in the world. Greco was named CEO of the company's American restaurant holdings, under the name Le Duff America, headquartered in Burlington,

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

;

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

; and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. During his tenure, Le Duff America was the parent company of the restaurant chains

, La Madeleine,

Mimi's Cafe Mimi's Bistro + Bakery (formerly Mimi's Café) is an American restaurant chain. As of April 2024, the company operates 44 locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, ...

, Brioche Dorée,

, as well as several others. The group, under him, ran over 600 restaurants and annually saw about $450 million in revenue. In December 2011, he announced he would be leaving the company at the end of the year to pursue other opportunities.

Sbarro

In January 2012, Greco joined

Sbarro Sbarro, LLC ( : stylized in all caps) is an American fast food restaurant that specializes in New York–style pizza sold by the slice and other Italian-American cuisine. In 2011, the company was ranked 15th in foreign sales among U.S.-based ...

as CEO, president, and board member. Sbarro, then headquartered in Melville,

Huntington Huntington may refer to: Places Canada * Huntington, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Huntington, New Zealand a suburb in Hamilton, New Zealand United Kingdom * Huntington, Cheshire, England * Huntington, East Lothian, Scotland * Huntingto ...

, was one of the world's leading Italian quick service restaurant chains and the largest "shopping mall-focused" restaurant concept in the world. Under him, Sbarro operated 1,100 restaurants in nearly 45 countries. Greco, credited with the strong performance and growth of Bruegger's, was recruited to Sbarro to lead its turnaround. Confident about Sbarro's prospects, he designed a short-term strategic plan calling for a focus on "people, place, product and positioning."Paul Frumkin (April 30, 2012
"Turnaround time at Sbarro"
. ''nrn.com''. Longer term, he implemented plans to shift Sbarro from its quick-service, food court based, status into the

fast casual A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, is a restaurant that does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast-food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is a ...

arena. He centered on making Sbarro the preeminent fast-casual Italian brand worldwide, an unclaimed position, and one he felt fit Sbarro well. He improved the quality and variety of products, ingredients and preparation. His changes also included an increased emphasis on employee hospitality and a shift from its shopping mall focus to a more store front oriented concept. He believed accomplishing these initiatives would position the firm into fast-casual preeminence. He left the company in late 2013.

Consulting and Board assignments

Since leaving Sbarro, Greco has held a number of interim executive leadership positions and consulting assignments. These have included President of

Newk's Eatery Newk's Eatery is an American chain of fast casual cafés which operates over 100 restaurants in 13 states. Corporate history Newk's Eatery was founded in 2004 as Newk's Express Café by father and son chefs, Don and Chris Newcomb, with the firs ...

from 2014 to 2016, CEO of True Drinks, Inc. from 2017 to 2018, and Interim CEO of Palm Beach County Food Bank from 2020 to 2021. While at Newks, Greco developed an expansion plan that grew the chain 70% ranking it as the 5th fastest growing chain and resulting in its inclusion in the Nation’s Restaurant News' Top 200 for the first time. While at the Palm Beach County Food Bank, he led the charity during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic through the largest increase in demand in its history with distribution increasing three-fold to 2 million pounds of food per month.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greco, James J. 1958 births Living people 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Alumni of City, University of London American chief executives of food industry companies American chief operating officers American people of Italian descent Businesspeople from New Haven, Connecticut Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni People from Delray Beach, Florida University of Miami School of Law alumni