Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store

• Aldi Inc. plans to open four new stores in the New Orleans, LA, area.

• King Kullen Grocery Co. Inc. announced Joseph Brown has been named President and COO, taking over from the retiring Brian Cullen and J. Donald Kennedy. Bernard P. Kennedy has been promoted to Exec VP, Chief Administrative Officer and Secretary. Also, Albert Hesse now serves as VP of King Kullen Pharmacies.

• The Kroger Co. announced that it will hold a hiring event this week to fill 10,000 jobs across its businesses.

• The Kroger Co. opened its newest Customer Fulfillment Center in Groveland, FL.

• McLane Company, Inc. announced that Tom Zatina recently retired as Exec VP, Chief Strategy Officer and President.

• Rosauers Supermarkets Inc. announced Cliff Rigsbee is joining the company as President and CEO, succeeding Jeff Philipps who is retiring.

• Stewart’s Shops Corp. has acquired Blueox Corp.

Retail

• Caleres has appointed Jennifer Olsen as its new Chief Marketing Officer.

• Costco is opening five new stores between July and August. New stores are planned for Murfreesboro, TN, Little Rock, AZ, Moore, OK, Springfield, MO, and Naperville, IL.

• CVS Health announced that it has opened the first MinuteClinic locations in Utah.

• Do it Best Corp. announced Josh Bright as an IT Security Analyst, Robby Ehlerding as a Category Management Planner; Lisa Ellert as a Merchandise Coordinator for Housewares; Kari Ann Ezzell as a Merchandise Manager for Millwork, Cabinets, Flooring, and Major Appliances; Tyler Mosher as a Merchandise Manager in the Housewares; and Chelsea Ort as a Human Resources Coordinator.

• GameStop Holdings Corp. has appointed Matt Furlong as CEO and Mike Recupero as CFO.

• National Association of Chain Drug Stores has promoted Sara Roszak to Senior VP of Health and Wellness Strategy and Policy and President of the NACDS Foundation.

• Express Inc. plans to expand its new, smaller-store format, Express Edit, with plans to have 10 Express Edit concept stores by the end of this year.

• Five Below Inc. said it will add Associate Assisted Self-Checkout to be in over 60% of the company locations by the end of this year.

• General Nutrition Centers, Inc. will begin selling a select assortment of products in more than 4,000 Walmart Stores Inc. locations and on its website.

• Orgill Inc. is opening a new distribution center in Rome, NY, in the summer of 2022.

• Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. announced Alfred Chang and Mike Relich will become co-CEOs of the company.

• US LBM Holdings, LLC has reached an agreement to acquire J.P. Hart Lumber Co. Ltd., which operates eight locations across Texas.

Restaurant

• Bad Daddy’s International has opened a new location in Atlanta, GA.

• Black Bear Diner has hired Chad Corrigan as VP of Franchise Sales and Development.

• Chipotle Mexican Grill has raised their menu prices by 3.5-4% in order to offset the cost of raising their average minimum wage to $15. This could be the first of multiple price hikes as the company faces increased supply chain costs.

• CKE Restaurants Inc. has hired Matthew Wells as Chief Global Development Officer.

• Domino’s Pizza is selling Non-fungible tokens as promotional material using their cartoon villain, the Noid, which debuted in the 1980’s.

• MooYah Burgers & Fries has opened a new franchised location in Orlando, FL.

• Mountain Mike’s Pizza has opened a new location in Oceanside, CA.

• Slim Chickens has opened a new location in Jefferson City, MO. The company also opened their first Texas location in Waco.

• Pieology Pizzeria has hired Bijan Sami as Chief Operations and Information Officer.

• Pizza Factory Inc. has devised a new express model with a smaller physical footprint in order to attract additional franchisees.

• Taco John’s is planning to launch a new brand called Cluckin’ John’s that will focus on chicken based taco products.