Kings Family Restaurant Announces Appointment Of New President

PITTSBURGH, June 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Kings Family Restaurant, a Western PA-based restaurant chain, announced today the appointment of Chris Whalen as president of KCS Management, a holding company and operator of Kings Family Restaurant, effective May 2013.

"Chris has been with the Kings family for the past twelve years and has a proven record of leadership," said Hartley C. King. "His fresh thinking will help us achieve our goal of making every dining experience at Kings Family Restaurant better than the last by exceeding our guests' expectations."

Founded in North Versailles, Pa., more than 46 years ago by Hartley C. King, Kings Family Restaurants are dedicated to providing guests with a selection of good food at a good value. Today, Kings Family Restaurants are proud to serve customers in more than 30 locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Whalen has been with Kings Family Restaurant since 2001, serving previous as vice president of finance. While in that role, Kings launched the Kings Rewards program, which is one of the most successful rewards program in the region with hundreds of thousands of members. Additionally, Kings made numerous upgrades to its kitchen and store automation systems.

With more than 30 years of experience in finance, Whalen is a restaurant-industry veteran who has a successful track record in the Pittsburgh region. Prior to joining Kings Family Restaurants, Chris served as financial controller for P&L foods, an operations and development company of 115 Boston Market Restaurants. Whalen has also held management positions at General Nutrition Inc. International and America Health Companies.

"I'm pleased to take on this position and carry on the Kings Family tradition of serving guests homemade meals with high-quality, brand name products," said Whalen. "My priority in this new role will be to enhance our menu with fresher and healthier foods, while still having fun with our menu. I want people to notice positive changes every time they come into a King's Family Restaurant."

About Kings Family Restaurant
Since 1967, Hartley C. King, founder, has believed that people are his business. He employs more than 3,000 people who serve more than one million customers a month at Kings. The family restaurant chain opened in 1967 at the corner of Routes 48 and 30 in North Versailles. Dubbed "Kings Country Shoppes," this first location took on the name of Kings Family Restaurants – indicating that the place was indeed a restaurant and not a country store that served milk and butter. Today with over 30 locations, Hartley contributes his success to his people and the communities it serves. Giving back to the community and to local charities has been both a responsibility and an investment for the chain.

SOURCE Kings Family Restaurant