CHARLOTTE, N.C. Meineke Car Care Centers has appointed Paul Clayton as the company’s new president.
An accomplished franchising executive, Clayton brings more than 28 years of highly successful franchising experience to Meineke, most notably having spent eight years as CEO of Jamba Juice and building the company into a nationally recognized brand. Clayton led the growth of Jamba Juice to more than 740 U.S. stores and delivered seven consecutive years of positive same-store sales performance. Under Clayton’s leadership, Jamba Juice dominated the made-to-order and healthy snack market in 2008 with 19 percent market share, triple that of their closest competition.
Clayton also spent 16 years at Burger King serving in a variety of executive leadership roles, including president of North America; senior vice president of worldwide marketing; vice president of U.S. marketing and vice president of the Northeast region, among other marketing and operations leadership roles. As president of North America for Burger King, Clayton was responsible for franchise and company operations of more than 8,000 restaurants, new unit development and marketing. He began his career working as a McDonald’s restaurant manager in Germany, where he learned to appreciate the nature of front line work and the value of focus and day-to-day execution.
“Paul has a track record of successfully implementing sales and brand-building strategies that resulted in significant increases in market share and we are very excited to have Paul’s expertise, passion for franchising and vision for growth leading the Meineke brand,” said Jonathan Fitzpatrick, president and CEO of Driven Brands Inc. Driven Brands is the parent of Meineke Car Care Centers, Maaco Collision Repair & Auto Painting, Econo Lube N’ Tune, AutoQual, Aero Colours, Drive N’ Style and Tortal.net.
Commenting on his new appointment, Clayton added, “Meineke is a well-known brand and I am excited to be a part of it. I look forward to working with all the franchisees and the Meineke team in an effort to make Meineke the best automotive aftermarket brand and business in the world.”
Clayton is a graduate of Boston University with a bachelor’s of science in business administration and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He currently serves on the board of directors for Vino Volo and previously served on the board of directors for Jamba Inc., Caribou Coffee and the United Way of Dade County.
Clayton will assume his role as president of Meineke Car Care Centers Inc. effective Oct. 15.