Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store

• The Kroger Co. plans to offer the first smartphone-enabled, at-home COVID-19 rapid test kit.

• The Kroger Co. plans to close two Quality Food Centers Seattle stores, citing a municipal ordinance that mandates hazard pay for frontline grocery store workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Retail

• Jo-Ann Stores Inc. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public.

• Rite Aid Corporation announced that all of its drive-thru locations are offering no-charge COVID-19 testing. Additionally, Rite Aid is participating in the federal retail pharmacy program, offering COVID-19 vaccines in five states.

• Sam’s Club is rolling out an in-house developed, automated health screening kiosk for employees designed to enable a safer, quicker and more reliable COVID-19 screening procedure.

• Walmart Stores Inc. more than doubled its number of personal shoppers in the last year and now has more than 170,000 of these workers.

Restaurant

• BJ’s Restaurant is testing a new virtual kitchen called Slo Roast in California.

• Bloomin’ Brands Inc. has expanded virtual brand Tender Shack to locations across the U.S.

• Denny’s Corporation is planning to launch two new virtual brands called The Burger Den and The Melt Down.

• Dine Brands Global, Inc. has launched a virtual restaurant concept called Cosmic Wings that is operating out of Applebee’s kitchens.

• Dog Haus International LLC has opened a new location in Austin, TX. that is offering delivery and pickup orders only. The new location will also feature items from the restaurants’ three ghost kitchen brands.

• Inspire Brands is opening a new ghost kitchen location in Atlanta under the name of Alliance Kitchen.