Cerealiity Cereal Bar & Cafe has named Starbucks veteran Tim Casey as chief operating officer, a new post at the fledgling cereal restaurant chain.
Cereality opened its first cafe-sized store in Philadelphia this month after testing the concept for a year at Arizona State University. The company plans to open 10 more cafes over 15 months, starting with a downtown Chicago unit in first-quarter 2005.
The menu features 30 name-brand cereals (from Quaker Oats, Kellogg’s, General Mills and Post) in bars, snack mixes and smoothies as well as traditional bowls. “Cereologists” in pajamas serve diners, who can also mix varieties via an Invent-a-Blend touch-screen terminal. Cereal boxes are displayed in kitchen cabinets to make the cafe feel like a home kitchen.
Casey had been VP-operations at Seattle-based Starbucks, where he oversaw 550 stores under six regional directors. Casey helped launch units in 50 new markets and helped improve average store sales by 40%.
Cereality moves its headquarters to Chicago from Boulder, CO, early next year.
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