GARY YOKO

Gary has developed and built more than 2,000 restaurants, bars and retail outlets throughout his 30-year career in the food service and retail industries.  

Prior to founding Floresta Partners, Gary led the design group at HMSHost, a division of Autogrill SpA, the world’s largest provider of food and beverage and retail services for travelers with annual sales of more than $2 billion. In that role, he developed more than 1,500 restaurants, bars and retail outlets and managed an annual budget of over $9 million for design, architectural and engineering services. He developed spaces for more than 100 national, regional and local brands and created more than 30 restaurant, bar and retail brands unique to HMSHost with several of them winning awards.

Gary’s work can be found in more than 100 airports across the United States and Canada as well as in travel plazas in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

On three occasions, Gary served as Vice President of Development for national restaurant companies with responsibility for real estate, design, construction and facility maintenance. In these positions, he led new restaurant development and major renovation programs for more than 1,000 company and 500 franchise locations.

A native of Western Pennsylvania, Gary graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a BS in Architecture and at one time was a registered architect in over 30 states.