Prominent executives join restaurant company’s board of directors

Bloomin’ Brands welcomes Julie Kunkel, who recently retired from Ernst & Young, and Urban Outfitters CFO Melanie Marein-Efron.

By Business Observer Staff
| 2:40 p.m. August 25, 2022
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Bloomin' Brands has expanded its board of directors from nine to 11 members. (Courtesy photo)

Tampa Bay-Lakeland

Bloomin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: BLMN), the Tampa-based parent company of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, has appointed Julie Kunkel and Melanie Marein-Efron to its board of directors, increasing the size of the board from nine to 11 members.

Kunkel, according to a news release, was a partner in the financial accounting advisory services at Ernst & Young from 2015 until her retirement last year. She joined EY in 1984 and now works as an executive coach.

Marein-Efron, meanwhile, is the CFO of clothing company Urban Outfitters. She has also worked for Campbell Soup Co., Godiva Chocolatier and Arthur Anderson & Co.