NEENAH, WI—Hotel brand-building can be a nail-biting business, with a variety of impact factors affecting short- and long-term success; even rapid success can have an unexpected effect.
Such was the case this past year when Cobblestone Hotels’ President/CEO Brian Wogernese decided that, after eight years at the helm, it was time to share the burden of having a booming franchise brand.
In December, Wogernese divested himself of his president’s title, handing it to industry veteran Greg Schindler, who will have oversight of the company’s three upper-midscale brands: Cobblestone Inn & Suites, Cobblestone Hotel & Suites and Boarders Inn & Suites.
Schindler made the move after serving 17 years with Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, where he most recently was VP/operations, midscale brands, Americas for Country Inn & Suites and Park Inn by Radisson. Prior to that, he spent eight years with Marriott International on the operations side for its Residence Inn brand, and as a general manager.
According to Wogernese, “It was time to bring a fresh set of eyes it to help Cobblestone Hotels meet the demands of our rapid growth.”
Like many industry observers, Schindler was aware of the inroads Cobblestone has been making in tertiary, even quaternary, markets with its new-build and conversion products and was intrigued when approached by Wogernese to discuss bringing the brands to the next level.
“The company has quietly been one of the fastest-growing, new hotel brands and franchise companies in the industry, which is really cool. They found themselves with this increased pipeline and they needed to understand how best to scale their support for the anticipated growth,” said Schindler, whose official title is brand president/Cobblestone Hotels.
“It was a position, honestly, Brian needed to add. They were just at that point where things were continuing to grow,” said Schindler.
Currently, Cobblestone Inn & Suites has 32 properties open, five under construction and 30 under development; Cobblestone Hotel & Suites has 17 properties open, seven under construction and 20 under development; and Boarders Inn & Suites, a conversion brand added in 2011, has 15 properties open.
“Brian’s strength is really in development; that’s really his sweet spot,” said Schindler. “The day-to-day running of the company, the management, the franchise division is really where I’ll be spending the bulk of my time.”
With a quarter-century in the industry, the Cobblestone executive has a variety of experience and areas of expertise from which to draw and utilize within his new role. Among his strengths, he cited strategy development, business planning, field operations, franchise administration, brand culture and operational P&L performance, as well as fluency in marketing, sales, finance and franchise development.
“You learn what you need to learn about helping organizations be better,” said the executive.
At press time, Schindler had been on the job for nine days, doing the whirlwind that usually comes with a new executive suite and seat. He spent that time attending several hotel grand openings, did a tour of the company’s host hotel for an upcoming business conference, and went to two groundbreakings.
“I kind of jumped right in, getting out to meet some of the key developers in the group and getting to know the team in the office,” he said.
In assessing the company from his new perspective, Schindler said, “There’s nothing that is broken. The challenge is you wake up one day and realize you’re not a small hotel company anymore. Probably the biggest thing [for me]is just helping everybody to be more strategic. Not that they haven’t been, but as you continue to grow, whether it’s construction, whether it’s operations, all of these areas need to have a little bit more forward thinking. Hey, we are growing. We need to plan for these things and make sure we’re purposeful in doing so.”
Schindler noted the culture at Cobblestone is a change from his previous two corporate stints. “It’s different, which is refreshing for me. Fewer layers. I think of it as this new, fresh, IPO kind of company that is up and coming. I kind of get that vibe a little bit. The corporate cultures at Marriott and at Carlson were great; it’s just different [here].”
Schindler feels Cobblestone has a “unique way” in how it approaches the industry. “It’s end to end. They’ve got the management arm, the construction arm and, obviously, the development arm. They’re serving these undersize communities where there isn’t really any quality lodging option,” he said.
Indeed, the company has pushed its growth by going into domestic markets that have not been top-of-mind targets for many developers, largely bringing its new-build Cobblestone products into tertiary and quaternary markets, establishing brand awareness and often a new business dynamic for an area. According to Schindler, the brand also is resonating with developers in secondary markets.
The Cobblestone products differ basically only in that the Inn & Suites has a pool; Hotel & Suites does not.
The conversion-centric Boarders brand offers owners of other franchise brands “an opportunity at a different price point from just a franchising-fee-structure standpoint,” he said.
Developers coming to the brands vary in their goals and experience, Schindler noted. “We have people that are new to the industry or might be in a market and are really taking a look at how best to improve the economics of their city…I think they look at it more ‘big picture’; a piece of how they want to potentially change some of their existing markets and cities. [This could be] the local doctor, lawyer or other business owners. So you have people that may be completely new to the industry, but really have a vested interest in whatever community they’re serving,” he said.
The executive said the company also has seen increased inquiries from multi-brand hotel franchisees.
“Those individuals are looking at us probably more so than they have in the past. I think through the relationships Brian and the development teams have built in talking to potential clients who have other hotels some of those opportunities are kind of finding us, which is great.”
Right now, Cobblestone Hotels is in 13 states, primarily in the Midwest, its footprint extending to Texas in the South and Pennsylvania in the East. The company manages approximately 95% of the properties, said Schindler.
“We’re opportunistic where it makes sense and based on the pipeline, every state is open for business.”