Skyline Chili is getting a new boss. The Cincinnati chili institution announced that Carl Stealey will take over as CEO, stepping into the role after outgoing chief Dick Williams guided the company through a run of restaurant openings, renovations, and a modernized commissary. Williams will remain chairman of the board and continue working on Skyline Chili's strategy and long-term growth.
The leadership change, reported by WKRC, caps a stretch of visible investment for the 77-year-old brand. Williams has served as CEO since 2023, and in that time Skyline opened nine new restaurants over the past three years, renovated 24 existing locations, and completed a major renovation of its Cincinnati headquarters. The company also opened a flagship location on Fountain Square and spent tens of millions of dollars modernizing and rebuilding its commissary, according to the station's report.
Williams' path to Skyline's top job ran through Cincinnati sports rather than the restaurant business. Before taking the interim CEO and chairman title in June 2023, he served as General Manager and President of Baseball Operations for the Cincinnati Reds from 2015 until October 2020, as detailed by 91.7 WVXU. He stepped down from that post to join North American Properties before landing at Skyline following former CEO Kevin McDonnell's retirement.
A Family-Owned Company Passes the Torch
Williams took the reins at a company that had returned to local ownership in 2007 after being publicly traded for nearly two decades. In 2021, the Williams family acquired Skyline Chili from an ownership team led by McDonnell, a move aimed at keeping the company locally owned, per the same account cited by the station.
Dick Williams said in a media release that Stealey is the right leader to build on Skyline Chili's momentum, according to WKRC's report. Stealey arrives with more than two decades of experience across the food, restaurant, and consumer products industries. He earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Cincinnati and later received an MBA from the University of Virginia.
Stealey's Résumé Spans P&G, Conagra, and Marzetti
Stealey's career includes leadership positions at Procter & Gamble, Conagra Brands, and Mead Johnson Nutrition, along with a stint as chief commercial officer of the Honey Baked Ham Company. He also served as president of the retail division of the Marzetti Company, a role he began in October 2018 leading consumer brands including Marzetti salad dressings, New York Brand Bakery, and Sister Schubert's rolls, according to a release from Lancaster Colony Corporation. Under his watch, the Marzetti Company's retail division grew beyond $1 billion in annual revenue.
That packaged-goods background lines up with where Skyline is headed next. The company now sells products in grocery stores across the country, and its central commissary in Fairfield, Ohio produces and ships fresh and frozen products to both restaurants and retail grocery partners, according to Encyclopedia.com.
Cincinnati Roots Run Deep
Skyline Chili was founded in 1949 by Greek immigrant Nicholas Lambrinides, who named the business after the view of downtown Cincinnati visible from his first restaurant on Glenway Avenue in the Price Hill neighborhood, per Wikipedia. Nearly eight decades later, the chain remains woven into Cincinnati's identity and family traditions, and it currently operates 136 restaurants.
The brand's regional footprint stays deliberately tight. Skyline restricts its restaurant franchise expansion primarily to a 500-mile radius around Cincinnati, concentrating physical locations across Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Florida, per the same Encyclopedia.com entry — even as its grocery products travel far beyond that boundary. Research published by the Rotary Club of Cincinnati, citing Business Courier data, showed Skyline generated $260 million in revenue and employed approximately 5,460 people in 2023, ranking as the 54th-largest private company in the region.
Skyline's cultural footprint extends well beyond its dining rooms and grocery shelves. The chain has served as the official chili of the Cincinnati Reds since 2002 and of the Cincinnati Bengals since April 2023, and it also sponsors the annual Crosstown Shootout college basketball rivalry, according to WVXU's reporting. As Stealey steps into the CEO role, that mix of hometown loyalty and expanding retail ambition now falls to him to manage alongside Williams' continued involvement as chairman.
