---
title: "Nation's Restaurant News: Aylwin Lewis to step down at Potbelly"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/2c9e70b9-d719-4bcd-b46e-2397c382dcb8
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/nations-restaurant-news-aylwin-lewis-to-step-down-at-potbelly-12394
category: "Sandwich & sub"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Sandwich & sub"
topics: ["Finance & M&A"]
published: 2017-05-31T13:08:01.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:11:03.576Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/babf18a1af6687d4668eead252514f5c9120.jpg
---

# Nation's Restaurant News: Aylwin Lewis to step down at Potbelly

**TL;DR:** Aylwin Lewis, CEO of Potbelly Corp, is stepping down after nine years. The company has begun searching for his replacement.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-05-31. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/nations-restaurant-news-aylwin-lewis-to-step-down-at-potbelly-12394).*

## Story

The CEO of Potbelly Corp. has stepped down, the Chicago-based company confirmed yesterday. Aylwin Lewis had been with the company for nine years. Previously he was CEO at Sears Holding Corp. Under his leadership, Potbelly went public in 2013.

Lewis will depart on August 8. The company said it has started a search process for his replacement.

In a released statement, Potbelly's Lead Director, Peter Bassi, noted that "We are grateful for Aylwin’s leadership.... We appreciate his vast contributions. He is a world-class restaurant leader and Potbelly benefited from his leadership.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- leadership change (topic)
- Potbelly (company)
- Sears (company)
- ceo departure (topic)
- public company (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/nations-restaurant-news-aylwin-lewis-to-step-down-at-potbelly-12394). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/2c9e70b9-d719-4bcd-b46e-2397c382dcb8).