Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store

• Ahold-Delhaize announced Jolanda Poots-Bijl will join the company in August as Exec VP Finance, and as CFO on October 1. She succeeds current CFO Natalie Knight, who will remain with the company through early July.

• Aldi Inc. has revealed plans to open 120 new stores across the United States throughout 2023.

• Big Y Foods Inc. has appointed Tenneille McFarlane-Smart to the role of Director of the newly created Project Management Office.

• The Consumer Brands Association has appointed Genna Gent as its Exec VP of Industry Engagement.

• CrossAmerica Partners LP announced it has hired Stephen Lattig as the new Senior VP of Retail Operations.

vK-VA-T Food Stores Inc. reported it is planning to build six new Food City stores in Huntsville, AL, over the next several years.

• QuikTrip Corp. reported it has opened its 1,000th store location.

• SpartanNash Company announced Binu Varghese has joined the company as its new VP Applications and Data.

• Wawa Inc. recently opened its 1,000th convenience store location.

Retail

• Do it Best Corp. has promoted Stephanie Lyons to Merchandise Manager Building Materials; Allison Meyer to Communications Director; Jordan Montgomery to Manager of Special Projects; Randy Rusk to Community Affairs Manager; Chris Snyder to Merchandise Manager Paint Supplies; and Ryan Stopher to Merchandising Manager Electrical.

• Dollar Tree Stores Inc. announced Mike Kindy is joining the company as Chief Supply Chain Officer.

• Francesca’s Holdings Corp. has acquired Richer Poorer, a women’s and men’s wholesale and direct-to-consumer brand.

• Guess Inc. has appointed Markus Neubrand as CFO, effective August 1. He will succeed interim CFO Dennis Secor, who will remain with the company as Exec VP through March 31, 2024.

• Lululemon Athletica Inc. reported it will open its first store location in Thailand in July.

• Nordstrom Inc. reported it plans to close its two locations in downtown San Francisco, CA, by the end of August.

• PetSmart Inc. announced the expansion of its partnership with Instacart to offer same-day delivery.

• Sephora USA Inc. has named Zena Srivatsa Arnold as its new Chief Marketing Officer.

• Tiffany & Co. has reopened its iconic 110,000 sq. ft. flagship store on the corner of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City.

• Tuesday Morning Corp. reported it is hosting going out of business sales at all its stores.

• Urban Outfitters Inc. has promoted Anu Narayanan to President of Anthropologie Group Women’s Apparel Accessories, Weddings and Beauty. In addition, the retailer named Holly Thrasher as Chief Merchandising Officer of Apparel and Weddings. Aaron Mutscheller will be joining the company as President of Anthropologie Home and Terrain.

• Walmart Stores Inc. has appointed Laura Himes to the position of VP Sourcing Fresh for the company’s Walmart International division.

• Walmart Stores Inc. plans to open four Walmart Health healthcare centers near Oklahoma City, OK, next year.

Restaurant

Burger King is estimating they will close around 300-400 franchised restaurants this year as the company places more scrutiny on underperforming franchisees.

CKE Restaurants plans to automate all nationwide drive-thrus with automated AI-powered speaker boxes. This will be the largest adoption of the AI technology being used in some drive-thrus.

Darden Restaurants Inc. has agreed to purchase Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. in a $715M deal. The deal is expected to close in June and both boards have unanimously approved.

Denny’s is progressing towards returning to pre-pandemic 24-hour operations. 71% of locations are now operating 24 hours due to staffing improvements.

Fat Brands has named Ken Kuick and Rob Rosen as co-CEO’s and will continue to serve in their current roles. The move will be effective May 5th and comes after Andy Wiederhorn’s decision to step down.

McDonald’s Corporation franchisees have been fined $212K for child labor violations. Three franchisees were fined for working a combined 571 minors more than legally allowed. Two of the minors were 10-year-olds who worked as late as 2 a.m. and were not compensated.

Papa Johns has named Mark Shambura as Chief Marketing Officer.

Portillo’s Hot Dogs plans to expand their pick-up only model to a second location and more of these locations could open in the future.