Josh Kern will takeover as Snooze Eatery CEO after two years leading the parent company that recently sold Old Chicago Pizza, SPB Hospitality. (Courtesy Snooze)
In his new job, Josh Kern will be doing anything but snoozing.
The restaurant veteran has taken the helm of Snooze Eatery, replacing David Birzon as CEO after the latter’s 13-year run atop the Colorado-founded breakfast chain.
Kern said his background as a marketing executive will prove pivotal for Snooze. He most recently led Houston-based SPB Hospitality, which runs Logan’s Roadhouse, J. Alexander’s and formerly Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom. He moved into that position in 2023 after several years as the business’s chief marketing officer.
Before that, he was chief marketing officer at Smashburger and Cerca Trova Restaurant Group, an Outback Steakhouse franchisee.
“I am that CEO that has a marketing lens and looks at things differently,” Kern said. “In its life stage, that’s really what Snooze needs right now.”
Those efforts were already underway for Snooze, which brothers Adam and Jon Schlegel started in 2006 with a Ballpark location that still exists. The chain’s menu and logo got a facelift this summer. More healthy options, such as a whipped cottage cheese bowl, and a new tagline – “Freshly Fueled” – were installed.
Denver-based Snooze Eatery has 69 locations in 10 states. (Courtesy of Snooze)
Though Kern wasn’t involved in those, he said it’s a step in the right direction for Snooze and was relieved that the change wasn’t a Cracker Barrel-like disaster. He said he thinks the business still has room to hone its message and mentioned adding more breakfast sandwiches and sharable plates.
“It’s a beautiful brand in and around what things it stands for, but it hasn’t done a great job on marketing efforts,” Kern said. “We haven’t told the story about where we get our local sausage, where our coffee is roasted, where our farm-fresh eggs come from.”
Though marketing is a big slice of his pie, the main goal will be to jump-start expansion. Snooze has 69 restaurants across 10 states, a number that has stalled in the past couple of years, Kern said. He posited that the group pursued growth too quickly, and a down 2024 was the nail in the coffin for the previous leadership team.
In the several years before that, he said the spot was growing about 3% year over year. This year, Snooze is up 1% to 2%, Kern said.
“I don’t want to put a number on it,” he said of last year’s downtick. “But there’s a reason why there was a leadership change.”
Under his watch, Kern said Snooze will explore restaurant layouts outside of the new-build retro-looking diners the brand has historically done. He floated moving into cheaper second-generation spaces, trying smaller footprints with drive-thru windows and adding more licensed airport outposts as options. With the exception of a DIA location, Snooze has done none of those thus far during its 18-year run.
Part of his early job is to rebuild the pipeline. Kern said Snooze has two locations already planned to open next year – one in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and another in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2027, he hopes to roll out five to 10 more. In his view, that’s a solid growth number.
In Colorado, Kern said Snooze will likely avoid more locations in Denver proper, but mentioned Lone Tree and Castle Rock as possibilities.
“I don’t want to cannibalize locations and you have to make sure you have population density,” Kern said. “But those are healthy numbers that we can achieve. And could you double that (number) with some second-gen sites? Potentially.”
Josh Kern will takeover as Snooze Eatery CEO after two years leading the parent company that recently sold Old Chicago Pizza, SPB Hospitality. (Courtesy Snooze)
In his new job, Josh Kern will be doing anything but snoozing.
The restaurant veteran has taken the helm of Snooze Eatery, replacing David Birzon as CEO after the latter’s 13-year run atop the Colorado-founded breakfast chain.
Kern said his background as a marketing executive will prove pivotal for Snooze. He most recently led Houston-based SPB Hospitality, which runs Logan’s Roadhouse, J. Alexander’s and formerly Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom. He moved into that position in 2023 after several years as the business’s chief marketing officer.
Before that, he was chief marketing officer at Smashburger and Cerca Trova Restaurant Group, an Outback Steakhouse franchisee.
“I am that CEO that has a marketing lens and looks at things differently,” Kern said. “In its life stage, that’s really what Snooze needs right now.”
Those efforts were already underway for Snooze, which brothers Adam and Jon Schlegel started in 2006 with a Ballpark location that still exists. The chain’s menu and logo got a facelift this summer. More healthy options, such as a whipped cottage cheese bowl, and a new tagline – “Freshly Fueled” – were installed.
Denver-based Snooze Eatery has 69 locations in 10 states. (Courtesy of Snooze)
Though Kern wasn’t involved in those, he said it’s a step in the right direction for Snooze and was relieved that the change wasn’t a Cracker Barrel-like disaster. He said he thinks the business still has room to hone its message and mentioned adding more breakfast sandwiches and sharable plates.
“It’s a beautiful brand in and around what things it stands for, but it hasn’t done a great job on marketing efforts,” Kern said. “We haven’t told the story about where we get our local sausage, where our coffee is roasted, where our farm-fresh eggs come from.”
Though marketing is a big slice of his pie, the main goal will be to jump-start expansion. Snooze has 69 restaurants across 10 states, a number that has stalled in the past couple of years, Kern said. He posited that the group pursued growth too quickly, and a down 2024 was the nail in the coffin for the previous leadership team.
In the several years before that, he said the spot was growing about 3% year over year. This year, Snooze is up 1% to 2%, Kern said.
“I don’t want to put a number on it,” he said of last year’s downtick. “But there’s a reason why there was a leadership change.”
Under his watch, Kern said Snooze will explore restaurant layouts outside of the new-build retro-looking diners the brand has historically done. He floated moving into cheaper second-generation spaces, trying smaller footprints with drive-thru windows and adding more licensed airport outposts as options. With the exception of a DIA location, Snooze has done none of those thus far during its 18-year run.
Part of his early job is to rebuild the pipeline. Kern said Snooze has two locations already planned to open next year – one in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and another in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2027, he hopes to roll out five to 10 more. In his view, that’s a solid growth number.
In Colorado, Kern said Snooze will likely avoid more locations in Denver proper, but mentioned Lone Tree and Castle Rock as possibilities.
“I don’t want to cannibalize locations and you have to make sure you have population density,” Kern said. “But those are healthy numbers that we can achieve. And could you double that (number) with some second-gen sites? Potentially.”
