TravelCenters of America Creates Hospitality Division

TravelCenters of America Inc.’s (TA) company-wide reorganization includes a newly created hospitality department, under which the areas of restaurants, gaming and convenience stores will be consolidated, as well as in information technology.

As part of its reorganization plan, TA is reducing its corporate headcount by a total of approximately 130 and eliminating certain positions. These changes are expected to generate net annual savings of approximately $13.1 million.

“By reorganizing and enhancing our leadership team, we have taken the first formal steps in executing TA’s turnaround by repositioning management, redefining management roles and operating focus, and strategically adding new management who bring new and valuable experiences, skills and outlooks to TA, while also focusing on right-sizing historical SG&A growth, which has significantly outpaced revenue growth over the past decade,” said Jon Pertchik, Chief Executive Officer of TA.  

Senior Leaders Joining TA

TA has also added senior positions to its staff.  These new leaders bring decades of experience as well as initiative, critical skills and new visions and approaches to these critical, but underperforming, areas of TA’s business.

Kevin Kelly – Senior Vice President, Hospitality (Retail, Restaurant, Gaming).
Kelly is joining TA from Delaware North, a global food service and hospitality company, where he held progressive leadership roles over the past 22 years. His most recent role was as President of Travel Hospitality, in which he led a subsidiary consisting of over 250 food service and retail locations in 19 airports and oversaw the construction of 120 locations.

Dennis King – Senior Vice President, Corporate Development
An experienced commercial and strategy leader with a proven record of building high performing teams and executing transformative change, Mr. King was most recently an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company. King has over 15 years of experience leading transformations in retail and consumer companies, with a deep expertise in advanced analytics, strategic evaluation, and cost and revenue synergy realization.

Sandy Rapp – Chief Information Officer / Senior Vice President, Information Technology.
Rapp is an information systems and business executive with over 30 years of experience in software development, consumer products, IT consulting, financial and manufacturing industries. Most recently serving as Chief Information Officer at the Timken Company, she has been recognized in her prior roles for solving large, complex enterprise-wide business challenges with innovative solutions and improving business productivity.

Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, TA's more than 21,000 employees serve customers in over 260 locations in 44 states and Canada,