Nicolas Boudet serves as the President of Wingstop® Restaurants International (NASDAQ: WING). Wingstop is the largest national, fast casual wing-focused chain in the U.S. with more than 1,200+ locations across 40 states and 9 countries internationally. Nicolas is planning to aggressively grow Wingstop in key strategic markets across the globe and maximize an already existing and emerging international presence. He recently joined Wingstop from Aliumclear, a global business advisory firm specialized in providing strategic consulting services to the food and hotel industries which he co-founded.
He previously led Focus Brands’ international business unit as its Executive Vice President, International Division. FOCUS Brands Inc. is the franchisor and operator of over 5,000 ice cream shops, bakeries, restaurants, and cafés in the U.S., and in 65 countries under the brand names Carvel®, Cinnabon®, Schlotzsky’s®, Moe’s Southwest Grill®, Auntie Anne’s®, McAlister’s Deli®, and Seattle’s Best Coffee®. In this role, Nicolas managed a portfolio of an existing 1,500 units.
Nicolas previously served as Taco Bell Corp’s Chief Development Officer and head of Franchising for the U.S. market, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE: YUM). Taco Bell® is the nation's leading Mexican-style quick service restaurant serving more than 36 million customers each week in over 7,000 restaurants in the U.S. In this capacity, Nicolas was responsible for defining the development strategy and execution for company owned stores. His team was also responsible for driving franchise development and the recruitment of new franchisees.
Nicolas joined Yum! Brands in 2008 as the Chief Development Officer for the Latin America and the Caribbean business unit, where he grew the unit footprint from 1,100 restaurants to 1,800 across 40 countries. He was also responsible for defining strategic development through new market entry and franchise partner selection. He led the teams that introduced KFC in Argentina; Taco Bell in El Salvador, Colombia, and in Chile; and paved the way for market entries in Bolivia and Paraguay.
Prior to Yum!, Nicolas held several senior positions over the span of 10 years with companies such as Club Med as Senior Vice President of Real Estate for Club Med Americas, and Global Vice President Joint Venture Real Estate with Starwood Hotels and Resorts based in White Plains NY.
Nicolas started his Real Estate investment career with Jones Lang LaSalle based in London where he worked for several years. He earned his MBA degree from a joint program administered by Cornell University and Essec Business School in Paris, France.