James Park
Mercato Partners, a Salt Lake City-based private equity firm that provides capital and guidance to brands in periods of high growth, has appointed James Park as an operating partner for the firm’s Savory Fund Practice. The Savory Funds makes strategic investments in the food and beverage industry. Park has two decades of restaurant and retail operating experience, both as a franchisee owner/operator and in the C-suite. Park most recently was CEO of Denver-based restaurant chain Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh. Prior to Garbanzo, Park held executive operating roles at fast-casual chains Which Wich Superior Sandwiches, Charley’s Grilled Subs and Penn Station East Coast Subs, as well as a global marketing role at 7-Eleven. He began his career at IBM Global Services designing and implementing advanced customer relationship management tools for Fortune 500 companies.
