Supermarket, Grocery & C-Store

• Convenience store retailers such as 7-Eleven, Kwik Trip and Kum & Go are suspending their self-serve food and beverage offerings.

• Core-Mark International is cancelling all in-person trade shows scheduled for March 13 through April 30.

• Grocery distributor SpartanNash plans to hire more employees to help handle increased customer demand.

• Retailers such as Sprouts Farmers Market are delaying new store openings.

• The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC grocery stores will open earlier in order to service only customers who are age 60 and over.

• Walmart Stores Inc. announced its 24-hour stores are now open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. It has reduced its store operating hours in order to give employees more time to restock shelves and clean and sanitize stores as its deals with a surge of shoppers. Other grocery retailers such as Aldi, H-E-B, Kroger, Natural Grocers, Publix Super Markets and more have made similar changes.

Retail

• Amazon.com Inc. is hiring 100,000 new full and part-time positions to keep up with increased shopper demand. It also is temporarily increasing hourly workers’ compensation.

• Best Buy Co. Inc. announced it will serve customers through limited access to its stores and curbside pickup. Only 10 to 15 customers at a time will be allowed in stores.

• Dollar General Corp. is encouraging the first hour of operation to be dedicated solely for the shopping needs of senior customers, in addition to closing one hour earlier to allow employees to clean and re-stock store shelves.

• The list of retailers that have temporarily closed their U.S. stores includes Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, Apple, Chico’s, Disney, Foot Locker, Gap Inc., JCPenney, Levi Strauss, Lululemon, Macy’s, Nike, Nordstrom, Saks, Sephora, Ulta and Urban Outfitters.

• The National Hardware Show said its 75th anniversary event will now take place Sept. 1-3, 2020 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV.

• Walgreens is waiving delivery fees for all eligible prescriptions.

Restaurant

• Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has added Uber Eats to its delivery options. In addition, the company has launched a series of Instagram livestreams, called Chipotle Together, that feature celebrities to entertain their customers staying at home and rive up sales. They will also be offering free delivery through March 31^st.

• Crave Hot Dogs & Barbecue is reducing its Franchise fee of $40,000 to $25,000 until May 1^st of this year.

• Denny’s Corporation is waiving all delivery fees until April 12. They have also increased sanitation practices and removed condiments, silverware, and placemats from each table.

• Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. has introduced curbside pickup to all of its locations. The company also introduced a contactless delivery option and is offering free delivery until April 30^th.

• Doctor’s Associates Inc. is reducing franchise royalty payments by half and is suspending advertising funds for the next four weeks to aid franchisees.

• MOOYAH Franchise LLC will be offering free delivery through March 31^st.

• O’Charley’s will remain open, but they have shifted to a curbside pick-up, takeout, and delivery where mandated. They have also debuted seven new family meals that are meant to feed up to six people.

• Philz Coffee and Wagamama US have temporarily closed all restaurants.

• The following restaurants are offering free or reduced kids meal during the national emergency: Burger King Worldwide Inc., Joella’s Hot Chicken, Moe’s Southwest Grill LLC, The Piada Group, LLC.

• The following restaurants are closing dining rooms, but remain open for takeout, drive-thru, or delivery: Arby’s Restaurant Group, Chick-fil-A Inc., Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Chuck E. Cheese,  Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc., El Pollo Loco Inc., Jack in the Box Inc.,  Jersey Mike’s Franchise Systems, Jimmy John’s Franchise LLC,  Just Salad LLC, KFC Corporation, Kolache Factory Inc.,  McDonald’s Corporation, MOD Pizza LLC, Noodles & Company,  Panda Restaurant Group Inc.,  Peter Piper Pizza,  Pollo Tropical,  Shake Shack Inc, , Qdoba Mexican Eats, Quaker Steak & Lube, Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc., Smashburger Master LLC,  Smoothie King Franchises Inc., Snooze, an A.M. Eatery, Sonic Corp.,  Starbucks Corporation, Taco Bell Corp., The Wendy’s Company, Tim Hortons, and Zaxby’s Franchising Inc.

• The National Restaurant Association has created a set of principles that outline how state restaurants associations should handle the Covid-19 outbreak. The memo states that restaurants should remain open in some capacity to help reduce food waste and provide food to communities where grocery supplies are running short. They are also calling for third-party delivery platforms to reduce their service fees to restaurants to aid social distancing efforts. NRA has predicted 5-7 million jobs will be lost due to Covid-19 and the economic impact could reach $225 billion. They are seeking a $145 billion restaurant and foodservice industry recovery fund from the government.

• Union Square Hospitality Group is laying off over 2,000 employees that make up 80% of the company’s staff. All executive have taken a pay cut and an employee relief fund has been started.

• Village Inn has closed all locations in Alaska and one location each in Washington and Utah. All other restaurants remain open and have shifted to curbside, takeout, and delivery model due to state mandates.

Commercial Real Estate

• The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) announced the postponement of its annual REcon event in Las Vegas. The convention is the largest real estate show in the United States.