Ray Hemmig has more than 40 years of executive and board experience in the retail and restaurant industries, including J. C. Penney; Hickory Farms of Ohio; Grandy’s; Ace Cash Express; Buffet Partners LP (Furr’s Fresh Buffet). He has served as COO, EVP, CEO, and independent director, as well as an executive chairman and non-executive chairman of the board (COB). He also founded and manages Retail and Restaurant Growth Capital (RRGC) and Hemmig Investments LTD (HIL) based in Dallas, Texas.

Mr. Hemmig has served in active investor and/or management roles in multiple, successful M&A transactions: Grandy’s to Saga Corp. in 1983; On the Border’s to Brinker in 1996; the sale of Ace Cash Express in 2006; the sale of Restoration Hardware in 2008; and multiple private company transactions at RRGC. His current/recent ventures include Snappy Salads based in Dallas, Texas, and The PGA Tour Super Stores and Taco Mac, both based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mr. Hemmig has extensive corporate board experience, having served on multiple public company boards: Communications World (COMW); Party City (PCTY); On the Border (OTBC); Ace Cash Express (AACE); Restoration Hardware (RSTO/RH); Full House Resorts (FLL); and MobileSmith (MOST); as well as numerous other privately held company boards in the United States and abroad. Hemmig is also an active member and board member of the North Texas Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors, where he holds the highest Leadership Fellow Director status. He was also a director of The University of Texas at Dallas’s and the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance, and currently, he is chair of the Jindal School of Management Advisory Board at The University of Texas at Dallas and on the Development Board for the university. He is also a frequent speaker on the subjects of corporate governance and the retail/restaurant trade industries.

Mr. Hemmig has also served on various industry and nonprofit affiliations such as Dallas Restaurant Association (past president); Texas and National Restaurant Associations (director); International Franchise Association; International Shopping Center Association; FiSCA (formerly NaCCA); and board member and past president (2x) North Texas Food Bank, among many other educational, community service, and charitable entities.