Friendly's Names Richard Del Valle VP Restaurant Operations Support

Friendly's Ice Cream LLC said Monday it has appointed company veteran Richard Del Valle to the newly created post of vice president of restaurant operations support.

In his new role, Del Valle will oversee all of the brand's restaurant operations support and quality assurance and training.

Del Valle most recently held the position of senior director, restaurant operations systems at Friendly's.

Before that he served in several posts at Friendly's, including information technology department, including POS rollout manager, founding member of the chain's Helpdesk organization, manager of support, manager of restaurant systems, and director of restaurant systems.

"Over the past months, Richard has made significant contributions to the restaurant operations department, said James Parrish, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

"He has been with Friendly's for over 20 years and began his career working as a general manager, so he knows the restaurant business well. He has demonstrated his strong leadership by assimilating quickly into this department."

Friendly's Ice Cream is based in Wilbraham, Mass., and has about 385 restaurants. The company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. Soon afterward, chief executive Harsha Agadi resigned. Parrish has been serving as interim CEO while the company searches for a permanent replacement.

Contact Paul Frumkin at paul.frumkin@penton.com.