Snap Fitness & Lift Brands Names New CEO: Weldon Spangler
Posted: September 26, 2019 in Chains
Snap Fitness
CHANHASSEN, MN – Snap Fitness, one of the world’s premiere 24/7 fitness brands, announced franchise business veteran Weldon Spangler as the new CEO of Lift Brands. Spangler brings a wealth of experience in franchising, operations excellence, international business and strategic expansion.
Mr. Spangler has an extensive franchise background. Most recently, he served as the President and CEO of Papa Murphy’s, a Nasdaq-listed franchise company with 1,400 locations and system sales of $800 million. At Papa Murphy’s, Mr. Spangler drove a system-wide turnaround by rebuilding relationships with franchise owners and partners and improving unit economics. Previously, Mr. Spangler spent seven years with Dunkin’ Brands Group in leadership roles that included as Senior Vice President/GM of Baskin Robbins working with 1,200 franchisees across over 2,500 locations and as head of Operations for Dunkin’ Donuts U.S. business with 1,200 franchisees and more than 8,000 locations. Mr. Spangler also went through extensive cultural and language training for his earlier role as Vice President of Starbucks Japan where he grew the brand to 600 stores, making it Starbucks’ largest international market at that time.
“Whether you’re working in quick service restaurant franchising or in fitness franchising, building strong alignment between the franchisor and local owners and their teams is the key to generating long-term success and value creation,” says Spangler. “I’m excited to build relationships with the 1,300+ franchisees and business partners at Lift Brands and chart a course for accelerated growth globally.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Weldon to the Lift Brands management team,” said Sam Katz, Managing Partner of Lift Brands’ lead investor, TZP Group. “Weldon brings more than 30 years of global business excellence with a terrific track record of execution working closely with franchisees and partners to drive growth, consumer engagement, and innovation.”
Mr. Spangler and his wife recently relocated to the Minneapolis area, joining their adult son who is a practicing lawyer in town. His first day on the job was Monday, September 16th.
