Aylwin B. Lewis is Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Potbelly Corporation, a growing Chicago-based sandwich chain with operations throughout the United States and internationally.
Lewis has over 30 years of experience in the restaurant and retail industries. Lewis contributed to several roles in PepsiCo’s restaurant division, which was later spun off into Yum! Brands, Inc. Prior to Potbelly, Lewis was Chief Executive Officer and President of Sears Holdings Corporation, which was created from the merger of two retail giants, Kmart and Sears. Lewis was the President and CEO of Kmart at the time of the merger, a distinction that made Lewis the highest ranking African-American executive in the U.S. retail industry.
Lewis holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management, and an MBA – all from the University of Houston. Lewis also has a Master’s degree from Houston Baptist University.
