Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store
• Casey’s General Stores Inc. has promoted Sanjeev Satturu to Senior VP and CIO. He succeeds Adrian Butler, who left the company.
• Giant Eagle announced Laura Karet has left the company. The retailer appointed Bill Artman as Interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found.
• The Kroger Co. has opened a new distribution center in Aurora, CO.
• Mountain Express Oil Company reported it has filed for voluntary protection under Chapter 11.
• Rutter’s Holdings Inc. has hired Kevan Anderson as its new Director of Fuels.
• SpartanNash Company announced the promotion of Ileana McAlary to Exec VP, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary.
• Yesway has promoted Thomas W. Brown to the position of Chief Real Estate Officer.
Retail
• Academy Sports & Outdoors announced it plans to open 13 to 15 stores in fiscal 2023.
• Amazon.com Inc. reported it plans on laying off another 9,000 employees.
• Amazon.com Inc. announced that prime members will now have access to two-hour delivery from Rite Aid Corporation stores in select ZIP codes in Newark, NJ, and Burbank, CA.
• Bloomingdale’s reported it has named Denise Magid its first Chief Merchant Officer.
• BlueLinx Holdings Corporation announced it has appointed Shyam Reddy as its new CEO and President.
• Builders FirstSource Inc. reported that it has promoted Steve Herron to COO.
• The Home Depot Inc. announced that Billy Bastek has been promoted to Exec VP of Merchandising. He replaces Jeff Kinnaird who has left the company.
• Kohl’s Corporation reported it will be adding 250 more full-sized Sephora at Kohl’s locations during 2023.
• Recreational Equipment Inc. reported it has hired Apple Musni as its new Chief People Officer. The retailer also announced that it has promoted Chris Speyer to Senior VP, Chief Merchandising Officer and Isabelle Portilla to Senior VP, Private Brands.
• Rue 21 has named Josh Burris as CEO, effective April 3. He replaces Bill Brand who has left the company.
• Shoe Carnival Inc. announced that Erik Gast has been named the company’s Exec VP and CFO, effective April 24.
• Swarovski North America plans to open 10 new stores in major cities including Chicago, Miami, New York City, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Toronto.
Restaurant
• Blaze Pizza co-founder and Culinary Chief Brand Kent has been removed from the pizza chain after he was told the company wants to go in a different direction.
• Johhny Rockets announced a 20-unit expansion plan in Mexico.
• KFC is launching chicken nuggets nationwide on March 27th following a successful test period.
• Panera Bread is partnering with Amazon to allow guests to use a contactless palm reader payment option that will link their credit card to their unique hand signature.
• Papa Johns CFO Ann Gugino is stepping down is stepping down effective immediately. Gugino will remain in a transitory role until the end of March and Chris Collins will take over interim CFO duties.
• The Habit Burger Grill has promoted Shannon Hennessy to CEO.
• Zaxby’s has opened a new location in Ocean Springs, MS.