Burger King names Brenneman CEO

MIAMI — Burger King Corp. named a former president of Continental Airlines Inc. and turnaround specialist to be its new chief executive Tuesday as the chain struggles to keep its No. 2 position in the fast-food industry.

Greg Brenneman, 42, is currently chairman and CEO of a Houston-based private equity firm, TurnWorks Inc. He will join Burger King on Aug. 1 and will become the chain’s 10th CEO in 15 years.

Brenneman insists, like several of his predecessors have, that the revolving door in the executive suite will stop with him. He replaces Brad Blum, who resigned July 2 citing differences with the board after about 18 months on the job with mostly disappointing sales.

But Brenneman has his work cut out for him.

Burger King has lost ground to the biggest fast-food chain, McDonald’s Corp., and No. 3 Wendy’s is fast on its trail. Disputes with franchisees, who own about 90 percent of Burger King’s more than 11,200 restaurants worldwide, have reportedly helped lead to the demise of the privately held chain’s past two CEOs.

Burger King’s U.S. sales dropped 5 percent to $7.9 billion last year, according to research firm Technomic Inc. Its market share slid to 15.6 percent last year from 17 percent, with Wendy’s inching up to 14.5 percent from 14 percent. McDonald’s had 43.6 percent.

But the company has reported that U.S. comparable store sales have climbed for five straight months through June after nearly two years of declines. Analysts, and even Brenneman, acknowledge that strength is also a sign of how bad sales were in the past.

But he was hopeful that certain products that Blum introduced, including a burger made of high-quality Angus beef and salads with “fire-grilled” shrimp and chicken, would continue that reversal.