Franchise News

Friendly’s Announces New Chief Branding Officer Amid Store Closures
Former El Pollo Loco CMO Ed Valle has been serving in the role for Friendly’s since October.

Franchise News

Former El Pollo Loco CMO Ed Valle has been serving in the role for Friendly’s since October.

After leaving his post as chief marketing officer for fast-casual chicken chain El Pollo Loco earlier this year, Ed Valle has resurfaced in a new role with family restaurant chain Friendly’s.
According to a recent Restaurant Business article, Valle has been serving as chief branding officer for the East Coast-based chain since mid-October, though Friendly’s only announced the news on Thursday.
Valle replaces former CMO Randy Davis, who left the 200-plus unit company in August, per a recent Nation’s Restaurant News article. The CBO role is a new position at Friendly’s, the company said.
The timing of the announcement comes in the wake of a Boston Globe report that Friendly’s has closed six restaurants, two of them in Massachusetts, this week.
“While we are sad to close our doors in these six locations, we look forward to the future of Friendly’s and continuing to explore new opportunities to enhance the customer experience,” the brand said a statement cited in the Globe article.
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Maddie has spent her career in the media industry, serving in various editorial roles before migrating into a hybrid content strategy and PR role with No Limit Agency. Her passion for storytelling and love of writing help her create meaningful content on behalf of her clients and fulfill No Limit Agency’s mission to tell people-driven stories.
Maddie is a graduate of Saint Louis University, where she studied Communications with a focus in journalism and media studies as well as Sports Business. In her spare time, Maddie can be found exploring Chicago’s food scene, watching an NBA game or lamenting over her middling fantasy baseball team.