VIKING RANGE CORP. has promoted Eric Deng to general manager of the Viking Commercial division in Fullerton, Calif. Deng joined Viking Commercial in 2007 as director of operations. Prior to that, he served as director of engineering at Jade Range and was previously v.p. of engineering at DCS/Fisher & Paykel.

UNIFIED BRANDS has promoted Tom Donovan to v.p.-sales. He’ll manage dealer, national chain, retail and international business for the manufacturer’s A la Cart, Avtec, Groen and Randell brands. Donovan spent the past five years managing Unified Brands’ national chain, retail and international business. The Jackson, Miss., company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dover Corp.

Cooper-Atkins has announced its reassessment to ISO 9001:2008. The Middlefield, Conn., company has been an ISO 9001 manufacturing facility since 1999. The reassessment certifies them to the current 2008 revision of the international quality-management system, which utilizes a customer-focused process approach for continual improvement in products, services and customer satisfaction.

Vulcan, Baltimore, Md., will be expanding its product line with the TEC Searmaster Charbroiler line. Vulcan’s parent, ITW Food Equipment Group North America, has acquired parts of the commercial business of Thermal Engineering Corp. As part of the acquisition, Vulcan will own the exclusive rights to TEC’s infrared cooking technology and a license to sell…

Hooters of America will answer to a new parent. In a transaction ending nearly three decades of family ownership, a group of private investors has bought the Atlanta-based restaurant chain from the estate of Robert Brooks. The transaction gives a consortium of private investors headed by Chanticleer Holdings ownership of nearly half of domestic Hooters…

Gordon Oates Sr., one of the founding fathers of the modern foodservice equipment industry and a 38-year veteran of Vulcan-Hart Corp., has died. He was 86. Oates, a cofounder of the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers, spent his industry career dedicated to Vulcan-Hart. He joined the manufacturer in 1955 as sales manager and…

Wendy’s/Arby’s Group is exploring strategic alternatives, including possible sale, for the 3,700-unit Arby’s chain. The Atlanta-based company says that selling the Arby’s chain would help provide capital for reinvestments at Wendy’s, including new breakfast and burger lines, restaurant remodels, a new store prototype and international growth. On that point, the company hopes to expand Wendy’s…

In its first international expansion, The Cheesecake Factory has inked an exclusive licensing agreement with the Alshaya group of companies to build and operate restaurants in the Middle East. The agreement with the Kuwait company covers the development of 22 restaurants over the next five years in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United…

The foodservice recession continues to impact operators—especially independents who lack the resources to compete with chains. A new report from the NPD Group said the number of U.S. restaurants fell 5,551 in net terms, or less than 1%, for the year ending Sept. 30, 2010. The Port Washington, N.Y.-based research firm also reported that restaurant…

McDonald’s Corp. is laying out big plans for China and Korea. In China, McDonald’s plans to raise capital spending by 40% above 2010 levels. The Oak Brook, Ill., company will build as many as 200 new stores across the country—more than in any previous year, and swap out the old red and yellow decor for…