Our feisty fowl flew into forbidden territory yesterday, listening in on a Quiznos conference call with franchisees. Executive chairman Harsha Agadi proudly introduced the company’s new incoming president/CEO Stuart Mathis and chief marketing officer Susan Lintonsmith, who will be officially seated in their positions on July 30, 2012.

Mr. Agadi said the former president Greg MacDonald was let go Wednesday along with two other corporate people. When asked why, Mr. Agadi explained that after years of declining sales, Quiznos had to put someone in place to get sales turned around.

The bodacious bird also ventures to say rumor has it that MacDonald was blindsided by the sudden management change. Agadi told the franchise owners that Mike Roper, chief operating officer since 2010, would be staying on. But, he added, perhaps the company should have listened to Roper’s concerns earlier about high product costs and excessive limited time offer discounts harming franchisees, as it finally became apparent to the board that Mike knew what he was talking about. Prior to joining the management team, Roper had been a franchise owner for six years, starting in 2002.

Mr. Agadi announced an increase in franchisee weekly food rebate money for the remainder of the year because he knows how much store owners need it. He said there are needed changes within the Quiznos system, but there have been so many changes made recently that the chain needs to slow down for now. He realized that franchise owners had little room to make more cost cuts to profitability and so their top line sales had to go up.

When Stuart Mathis and Susan Littonsmith were introduced they said little. The eavesdropping hooter heard one owner say yesterday that it was a wonder that Quiznos could keep Greg MacDonald in place for so long. “He may have been in the CEO position for a year and a half, but was involved with many decisions that negatively affected store operations for the past several years after he moved from Canada.”

The peeping predator also tells that several sources, mainly from Mathis’ previous employer Mail Boxes Etc./The UPS Store, confirmed that the new CEO owns a home with his wife in Denver, and has been commuting from the shipping giant’s San Diego franchise headquarters for years.

Related Articles:

• MacDonald of Quiznos Replaced by The UPS Store President
• Quiznos Begins Employee Reduction Plan
• Stuart K. Mathis of U.P.S. Talks About His Career, NYTimes.com
• Stuart Mathis talks about the benefits of owning The UPS Store franchise, YouTube video
• Quiznos New Strategy: Higher Prices
• Quiznos Ass'n Reports Little Progress