(Reuters) -Chipotle Mexican Grill on Monday named interim boss Scott Boatwright as permanent CEO of the burrito chain, months after Brian Niccol exited the role to take the top job at Starbucks (NASDAQ:).
In a surprise announcement in August, Starbucks named Niccol as its new CEO, leaving the burrito chain under Boatwright, who has vowed to grow the company to 7,000 restaurants in North America and expand internationally.
Boatwright steps in at a time when restaurants across the United States are battling weak consumer demand in the face of higher menu prices.
Chipotle (NYSE:)’s stock lost $6 billion in market value immediately after Niccol’s departure. Since then, shares have risen about 14%.
The company said in a statement on Monday that it had named Boatwright as CEO, effective immediately, following “a thorough and rigorous external search process.”
Niccol was credited with helping revive Chipotle’s sales and profit by ushering in menu item improvements and removing inconsistencies in flavor across the company’s U.S. restaurants.
After five years under Niccol’s leadership, sales in the burrito chain doubled, while its stock tripled.
Boatwright was Chipotle’s operating chief prior to being appointed its interim CEO in August.
He worked closely with Niccol to also steer the company out of a crisis and regain consumer trust following a severe E. coli and salmonella outbreak in 2015.
A veteran in the restaurant industry, Boatwright spent 18 years with Arby’s Restaurant Group (LON:) in various leadership positions before joining Chipotle in 2017.
In October, Chipotle missed market expectations for third-quarter same-store sales growth and maintained its growth target for annual comparable restaurant sales.
