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MINNEAPOLIS, October 22, 2003 - Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. (Nasdaq: GCFB) President and CEO Steven J. Wagenheim announced today that James "Smokey" Hughes, a 20+ year veteran of the restaurant industry, has joined the company as Sr. Vice President of Operations.
Prior to joining the Granite City team, Hughes spent over 20 years with TGI Friday's-- most recently as Vice President of Operations for their Northeast and Mid Atlantic Divisions. He will oversee operations at the company's current and future restaurants in the Midwest.
"We are very excited to have Smokey on board," said Wagenheim. "We are honored that he chose Granite City because it tells us that we are headed in the right direction. His tremendous operations background and his proven track record for team-building and inspiring others to achieve very high levels of performance will be a great addition to our already solid operations team. In addition to his impressive work ethic and appreciation of our culture," Wagenheim added, "his immense experience with multi-unit/multi state operations makes him a great fit as we continue to grow the Granite City concept."
Wagenheim said Hughes will start with the company in early November, just prior to the opening of its Cedar Rapids, Iowa location which is scheduled for November 18, 2003. Construction of a Granite City Food & Brewery® is underway in Davenport, Iowa and agreements are being finalized for sites in Lincoln, Nebraska and Maple Grove, Minnesota.
Granite City Food & Brewery Ltd. operates four casual dining restaurants featuring made-from-scratch food and handcrafted beers. Its broad menu offers traditional and regional foods served in generous portions at reasonable prices, affording guests an excellent value and great dining experience. Its first Granite City location, in St. Cloud, MN, opened in June 1999. The Company's second location opened in Sioux Falls, SD, in December 2000, the third location opened in November 2001 in Fargo, ND, and the fourth location opened in West Des Moines, Iowa in September 2003.
Certain statements made in this press release of a non-historical nature constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such factors include, but are not limited to, changes in economic conditions, changes in consumer preferences or discretionary consumer spending, a significant change in the real estate market, our ability to complete construction of additional restaurants at acceptable costs, and the risks and uncertainties described in the Company's Form 10-KSB Report for the year ended December 30, 2002 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT:
Steven J. Wagenheim
President and Chief Executive Officer
(952) 525-2070 or (612) 751-3331
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