Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store
• Aldi Inc. will open four new grocery stores in Florida, Ohio, and South Carolina this month.
• Big Y Foods Inc. announced its Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, Guy W. McFarlane, will retire on September 1. Michael R. Cormier has been promoted to Senior VP of Sales and Marketing. Steven M. Nordstrom has been promoted to Senior Director of Center Store. David M. Placzek has been promoted to Director of Grocery, and Scott P. Brackney has been promoted to the role of Director of Big Y Brands and Retail Pricing.
• C & S Wholesale Grocers Inc. announced the retirement of Bob Palmer as CEO as of October 2. He will be succeeded by Eric Winn, who is currently serving as COO.
• Foxtrot Ventures Inc has entered into a partnership with KeHE Distributors, LLC, which will now serve as the company’s primary distributor for natural, organic and specialty products.
• Lidl US, LLC announced Joel Rampoldt will take over the role of CEO in September. He will replace current CEO Michal Lagunionek who is stepping down.
Retail
• AG Jeans announced that Glenn McMahon was appointed as the company’s CEO.
• BlueLinx Holdings Corporation has appointed Todd Skaggs as Regional VP for the company’s West Region.
• Cameron Ashley Building Products Inc. has opened its first distribution center in Utah, located in Salt Lake City.
• The Container Store Inc. plans to open six new smaller format stores in fiscal 2023 and three in fiscal 2024. Locations that are 15,000 sq. ft. will open in CA, FL, MD, NJ, and NY.
• Crew Group Inc. has named Adrienne Lazarus as President of Madewell.
• L.L. Bean Inc. is planning to open two new stores in the U.S. and two in Canada this fall, including its first-ever locations in Quebec.
• Nike Inc. reported it will open Nike Studios locations. The first store with the new concept will open later this year in West Hollywood, CA, with additional locations opening in the Los Angeles, CA area in the future.
• Red River Lumber Co. has promoted John Butler to the role of President of the company.
• Rite Aid Corporation has promoted Jeanniey Walden to the role of Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer.
• Tapestry, Inc. has reportedly entered into a deal to acquire Capri Holdings Limited, which is made up of Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo.
• True Religion Apparel Inc. reported it will begin selling licensed products for the bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen starting January 2024.
• UpWest announced it is opening three new stores in the next month. New locations will open in Boulder, CO, Bellevue, WA, and Nashville, TN.
• Wilson Sporting Goods Co. has recently opened its first location in California, in Santa Monica.
Restaurant
• Captain D’s has named Jeff Wilson as CFO.
• Dutch Bros Coffee has named Christine Barone as CEO, where she currently serves as President.
• El Pollo Loco’s board of directors has adopted a limited-duration shareholder rights plan in order to protect shareholder interests against Steak ‘n Shake’s owner Sardar Biglari who has purchased 11.3% of the company’s shares.
• Flynn Restaurant Group has signed a franchise agreement to develop 200 Wendy’s restaurants in Australia by 2034.
• Krispy Kreme increased their revenue by 9% by adding 462 new points of access through partnerships with McDonald’s, Amazon, and Costco.
• Noodles & Company has lowered prices and added value menu after getting pushback from customers over pricing. The company saw store traffic drop after a 5% menu price increase in February.
• Washington D.C.’s Attorney General has released an advisory on restaurant fees after receiving complaints from consumers. The number of fees at restaurants has increased significantly this year and we could see states adopt similar measures this year.
