Michael Skipworth on brand strategy
From This is a ‘TRANSFORMATIONAL year’ for our brand: Wingstop CEO · · Fox Business Clips
“We actually view Wingstop's 2026 as a transformational year for our brand. We have some very unique brand-specific strategies that we're executing against. Some of that has to do with improving operations through our Wingstop Smart Kitchen which will allow us to win a lot more occasions with new guests that maybe look a little bit different than our core today that are a little bit higher-income and maybe a little bit less sensitive to gas prices as some of those other consumers are, and in addition to that, for a brand of our size and scale, over 3,000 restaurants, we're just now beginning our plans to launch loyalty which we think is going to be a really big driver for our business.”
On , Michael Skipworth, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at WINGSTOP INC, spoke about brand strategy during This is a ‘TRANSFORMATIONAL year’ for our brand: Wingstop CEO on Fox Business Clips.
About Michael Skipworth
In an April 2026 interview on Fox Business, Wingstop CEO Michael Skipworth described 2026 as a "transformational year" for the brand. He stated that the company is executing brand-specific strategies, including improving operations through "Wingstop Smart Kitchen" to attract higher-income guests less sensitive to gas prices, and launching a loyalty program. Skipworth said the loyalty program is being built from a consumer-driven approach using a database of over 60 million users, and will allow guests to earn points, with a focus on engagement, personalization, and unique experiences. Skipworth acknowledged that rising gas prices are putting pressure on the lower-income consumer that Wingstop over-indexes to, and noted a similar impact on business trends when gas prices reached these levels in 2022. He said that despite a decline in sales in the first quarter that the company is "not happy with," profitability within restaurants improved and margins strengthened. Skipworth added that Wingstop has a little over 3,000 restaurants and aspirations to grow to over 10,000, describing the company as a "unit growth story."