John F. Antioco Email & Phone Number

Dallas, Texas, Us

Very early in my career, I began investing in private businesses alongside my corporate career, and this continues today. After leaving the public sector, I founded JAMCO to manage my private-equity investments, adding trusted colleagues and partners to acquire businesses, mostly quick service restaurant (QSR) / casual dining franchises.My interest has always been in consumer-oriented, multi-unit retail businesses with opportunities for improvement, efficiency, and scale. My role is to coach, lend capital and wisdom as well as develop future leaders. My managerial practice is creating a strategy, getting team members aligned, and executing the plan focusing on consumer insights while growing the business profitably.Before JAMCO, my investments included Main Street & Main, a multi-brand restaurant franchise concept, and the largest TGI Friday’s franchise with 80 restaurants located in Arizona, Nevada, and California, and J&B Restaurants, a multi-brand restaurant franchise concept of both Taco Bell and Friendly’s on Long Island, New York. The success and sale of these investments led to JAMCO’s founding.JAMCO Timeline and Acquisitions:● 2010, Red Mango● Fall 2013, Smoothie Factory and RedBrick Pizza● December 2013, JAMCO forms BRIX Holdings, LLC to be the parent/holding company of Red Mango, Smoothie Factory, and RedBrick Pizza; JAMCO is the majority stakeholder● 2014, BRIX acquires Souper Salad● 2019, JAMCO, through membership in TriArtisan Partners entity, acquires an ownership interest in TGI Friday’s● 2020, BRIX acquires Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt and Humble Donut Co.● 2021, JAMCO forms Amici Partners Group, LLC in connection with the acquisition of Friendly’s; JAMCO is the majority owner of Amici Partners

Dallas, Texas, Us

In 2013, JAMCO’s partners formed BRIX Holdings, LLC. Our multi-brand franchising parent company specializes in foodservice chains with superior products within better-for-you segments. We offer superior franchise opportunities for owner-operator franchisees. Our focus is on brands that are both attractive to the rapidly expanding single-unit owner/operator franchise market and have the potential to grow into national and international award-winning chains. The current BRIX Holdings’ portfolio includes Red Mango® Yogurt Café Smoothie & Juice Bar, Orange Leaf® Frozen Yogurt, Smoothie Factory® Juice Bar, Souper Salad®, and RedBrick Pizza®.

Dallas, Texas, Us

JAMCO, via Amici Partners, made the Friendly’s acquisition in 2021. Our goal is to stabilize and maintain all 130 corporate-owned and franchise locations as well as look to future growth both through traditional and new distribution channels including drive-thru locations, pick-up/delivery models, and ghost/virtual brands. Our focus is to grow the business by expanding points of distribution and franchising. We also will focus on menu innovation, including new ice cream flavors, an elevated customer experience, and developing a robust off-premise business and mobile app.

Scottsdale, Arizona, Us

P.F. Chang’s was founded in 1993 in Scottsdale, Arizona. It has expanded to become a globally recognized brand known for authentic made-from-scratch Asian cuisine focusing on high-quality, fresh ingredients and wok-trained chefs. Today, the Company has more than 200 Company-owned restaurants and over 90 franchised locations globally across 24 countries.In March 2019, it was acquired by private equity firm TriArtisan Capital Advisors and Paulson & Co. I served as CEO for a year after the acquisition and continue as a board member of the JAMCO-managed investment. Our focus is to elevate the dine-in experience while growing the off-premise business exponentially.

New York, Ny, Us

In 2014, I teamed up with TriArtisan, a private equity group that helped with two sizable investment opportunities: P.F. Chang’s and TGI Friday’s. TriArtisan invests and manages private-equity capital provided by a broad roster of institutions, including sovereign wealth funds, alternative asset managers, and family offices. TriArtisan targets investments in companies with EBITDA of $25-300 million across multiple industries, including consumer, retail, business and professional services, industrial, media, and healthcare. TriArtisan’s flexible institutional capital enables us to invest in companies requiring a broad range of investment needs, including leveraged buyouts, growth equity investments, spinoffs, carve-outs, roll-ups, recapitalizations, and restructurings. In each of its assets, TriArtisan partners with high-quality management teams to support them in driving differentiated returns for our institutional and management partners.

Dallas, Texas, Us

When I acquired a TGI Friday’s, the casual dining bar and grill franchise in 1995, it needed a financial turnaround and a strategic vision. By the time that I sold my TGI Friday’s franchise business in 2003, Main Street & Main, I was the largest TGI Friday’s franchisee with 80 restaurants located in Arizona, Nevada, and California. I later, in 2015, teamed up with TriArtisan to acquire the entire company. I identified a talented management team to lead the Company’s renewal, including a digital strategy and online mobile app ordering. Today, TGI Friday’s has more than 850 restaurants in 55 countries offering authentic American food and good-time Friday drinks. TriArtisan Capital Partners, of which JAMCO is a member, acquired TGI Friday’s in July 2014. I served as the Interim CEO for nearly a year from 2016-2017 while we conducted a management search.

Towerbrook Capital Partners hired me to be chairman of Rave Reviews Cinema. I held that position until I helped orchestrate the sale of the Company to Cinemark in 2012.

Denver, Colorado, Us

While at 7-Eleven, I became curious about video rental. As the CMO, I tested display racks for the top 20 films, but availability and inventory were issues. In 1997, I was recruited by Sumner Redstone to become the Chairman and CEO of Blockbuster, the world’s largest video chain. It was in rapid decline under former leadership. Redstone needed to fix this to reverse Viacom’s plunging stock price. We saw immense brand, expansion, and profitability opportunities considering its leading market share. My tenure included leading the Company’s financial turnaround and launching effective marketing, innovations, and other operational initiatives, which helped boost our annual same-store sales and company’s profits enabling a successful IPO in 1999.In the early video store rental model, frustrated customers often could not rent their first-choice videos. From a store’s perspective, videos needed to be rented enough times to cover the wholesale price of $65 a cassette. It took a year of studio visits and determination before selling and implementing our new revenue-sharing model versus buying the tapes. Our stores could stock more copies of popular films and advertise guaranteed availability. It was a big risk—and a game-changer that led to years of revenue and profit growth.Simple marketing initiatives resonate with consumers. “Go home happy,” “Guaranteed available, or next time it’s free” were highly effective campaigns. We later launched “Total Access” which allowed customers to exchange DVDs in-store or online, and proved to be a highly successful answer to Netflix. As the category leader with a strong brand and business model, we began the evolution from a retail-based entertainment company to digital delivery. Before it was abandoned after my departure, our Total Access was growing faster than Netflix. Leading Blockbuster's talent-rich team was a rewarding and fun experience; and a great fit considering my love of films, franchising, marketing, and turnarounds.

Irvine, Ca, Us

I was recruited to turn around Taco Bell and position PepsiCo to spin off Taco Bell along with their other quick-service restaurants, Pizza Hut and KFC. Meanwhile, at Taco Bell, we focused on branding, created targeted consumer marketing, made menu enhancements, and a refranchising strategy, reversing a three-year negative sales trend that positioned the Company for growth. At the time, Taco Bell was the nation’s largest quick-service Mexican restaurant chain, with 7,000 outlets in the United States and annual sales of approximately $5 billion.

Laval, Québec, Ca

Circle K was in bankruptcy when I was recruited to be its President and COO. At the time, Circle K was the nation’s largest operator of company-owned convenience stores. To address the decline, we closed badly performing stores—nearly half of the locations; renovated and organized the ones with potential, adding new technology and convenience features, including pay-at-the-pump credit card readers; and reorganized debt. In 1993, CFO Larry Zine (now a JAMCO partner) and I guided Circle K out of bankruptcy and took the Company private, and I became CEO. A year later, we returned to profitability and took the Company public through a management-led IPO. In 1995, I became the Chairman.Leading Circle K was one of the brightest and most rewarding parts of my career, as I discovered a passion for turnarounds and restructuring. We took Circle K from bankruptcy to private to public to sale. The creditors got back 100% on the dollar, and the equity group investors earned four times their investment in less than three years.

New York, Ny, Us

After leaving 7-Eleven, I did a brief stint as COO at Pearle Vision. It provided an opportunity to lead a respected optical retail franchise company. For many reasons it proved not to be a good fit, so it made my decision to move to Circle K an easy one especially to a business I knew and loved.

Irving, Tx, Us

In 1970, upon graduation from the New York Institute of Technology, 7-Eleven hired me as a management trainee at $2.89 an hour for a guaranteed 50-hour week. Over 20 years, I held a series of marketing and operations positions—from area manager to a district, zone, division, and marketing manager. Later, I became the chief marketing officer. When I left the Company, I was the Senior Vice President of Operations, which included global marketing and operations for the Company’s 8,000-store outlet chain.7-Eleven gave employees ownership at every level of the organization and autonomy, which leads to innovation, best practices, and results. It was a great learning environment—from both a corporate and franchise perspective—I gained insight from holding both marketing and operational roles. I was a student of people, observing and learning what motivates them, whether they are consumers or a management team, to help formulate and execute a fundamental vision of business success. These years served as an exciting foundation for my career in franchising, marketing, and turnarounds, with friendships that last to today.