Regional Director

Q&A with Ricardo Azevedo, CEO of Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming. October 20, 2026 Ricardo Azevedo, CEO of Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming Ricardo Azevedo joined Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming, America's largest premium pet brand, as Chief Executive Officer in 2022. With more than two decades of experience leading global retail and franchise brands, Azevedo has a proven track record in brand expansion, operational excellence, and franchise development. At Woof Gang, he oversees the company's rapid growth, franchise support, and commitment to pet wellness through grooming and all-natural products. Prior to joining Woof Gang, Azevedo held senior leadership roles at Restaurant Brands International, where he worked across iconic brands including Tim Hortons and Burger King. He served as President of Tim Hortons U.S., led international operations across EMEA for Burger King, and held executive roles overseeing marketing, innovation, and sales strategy in North America. His global perspective and deep expertise in franchising have shaped his approach to building purpose-driven, scalable brands. Ricardo, you have quite the background as a franchising leader at RBI, overseeing both Burger King and Tim Hortons. Can you speak to that experience and what led you to Woof Gang? Working across the Burger King and Tim Hortons systems at Restaurant Brands International taught me how to build the infrastructure and support that a franchise needs to grow at scale without losing what makes it special. When Garnett Station Partners acquired Woof Gang and brought me on as CEO in 2022, I recognized a brand with a loyal and passionate customer base and franchise partners, and a lot of untapped potential. The opportunity wasn't to change what Woof Gang was; it was to give it the infrastructure and implement the right playbook for sustainable growth. It also doesn't hurt that I'm a lifelong pet owner. CEO. Ricardo Azevedo. Company. Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming. Since you joined Woof Gang, the growth has been incredible. Can you speak to that growth and the key drivers behind it? It took Woof Gang 15 years to reach 150 stores, and we doubled that footprint in about three years, crossing the 300-store mark at the beginning of 2026. A big part of that has been putting the right team and infrastructure in place to support our franchisees and grow in a disciplined way. What I'm most proud of is that we've been able to grow without losing what makes Woof Gang special. Every new store is another opportunity to bring Grooming with Love and Your Dog's Happy Place to a new neighborhood and pet community. The growth has really come from a combination of strong franchise partners, a team that understands franchising, and a brand that people genuinely connect with. We've also continued investing in technology, distribution, products, marketing and franchise support so the business can keep evolving as we grow. Can you tell us more about what Woof Gang offers? Woof Gang is a grooming salon with a beautifully curated pet boutique out front. But what we really offer is a place built around the relationship people have with their dogs, a place we want every pet parent to think of as Your Dog's Happy Place. At the center of that is what we call Grooming with Love. For us, grooming goes far beyond a haircut. It's personalized care focused on the whole dog, from skin and coat health to ears, teeth, hygiene and overall wellness, all delivered by groomers who take tremendous pride in their craft and genuinely care about the pets they serve. That experience continues into our boutiques, with treats, chews, toys, wellness products and an expanding lineup of Woof Gang exclusive products that make everyday moments, and celebrations, more special. We're also investing heavily in technology, including our app and digital tools, to make booking and communication seamless so our teams can spend more of their time focused on what matters most: the dog in front of them. What makes Woof Gang unique, and where is it really winning? What makes Woof Gang special is that we've been able to grow into the largest specialty pet grooming franchise in the country while still feeling deeply local. Every store is independently owned by someone who is part of that community, and every store has the opportunity to become a neighborhood destination where people know the groomers, the team knows the dogs by name, and pet parents genuinely enjoy coming back. What connects all of those neighborhoods is the Woof Gang Way, a shared commitment to personalized service, Grooming with Love, great products and creating an experience that brings a little more joy to the relationship between people and their pets. That's where I think we're really winning. Stores that opened in 2025 are averaging a 4.9-star Google rating, which tells us that even as we scale, customers are still feeling that personal connection. We're proving that a national brand can grow quickly without becoming generic. Every new Woof Gang should still feel like Your Dog's Happy Place and have that neighborhood pet store feel. Bigger picture, where do you see the most opportunities in the pet space? Grooming, without question. Pet parents want to spoil their pets, and grooming gives them a way to do that through an experience that feels a bit like a spa day, one that also gives them something fun to post about afterward. The data supports it too: total spending on pet services is projected to jump from $48 billion in 2019 to $112 billion by 2030. Woof Gang has ridden that wave from the start; we began as a treat bakery, but grooming now makes up over 70% of our business, which tells you where the industry is headed. What gets you most excited about working for Woof Gang? Honestly, it's the people we've assembled and the pace we're moving at. Finding people who are both sharp operators and true animal lovers isn't easy, and that's exactly who makes up our team. We're also entering a new chapter with a strategic investment from Great Hill Partners, which will help us push harder on franchise support, our digital tools, and getting the Woof Gang name in front of more people. Between that, being named to the Franchise 500 this past January, crossing our 300 store milestone, and expanding our retail experience, there's a lot of energy and passion behind this brand right now. Looking ahead, what's next for Woof Gang? We're targeting roughly 450 stores across North America by 2027, which means bringing what we do to a lot more communities that don't have a Woof Gang yet. Alongside that, we'll keep growing our retail and private-label lineup, putting more into our technology, and pushing further into wellness and grooming leadership. The long-term goal hasn't changed: we want to be a brand that neighborhoods genuinely need, one people can point to and say it made a real difference for their pet.

McDonald's US comparable sales rose just 1% in Q2, whilst Burger King surged 8.5%, outpacing the broader burger industry by nine points. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski acknowledged execution failures, noting roughly a third of US franchises didn't properly implement the under-$3 value menu, and digital offer cuts were "a bad trade". Burger King's growth was driven by its Whopper platform, Disney-themed kids' meals, and restaurant remodels. Whopper average unit volumes have increased over 20% since the campaign launched. Restaurant Brands International, Burger King's parent, trades at 13 times forward price-to-earnings versus McDonald's 18 times. However, QSR is a multi-brand portfolio including Tim Hortons, which contributes 41% of operating profit, whilst Burger King represents 19%. McDonald's management doesn't expect full US business recovery until 2027.