Supermarket, Grocery, C-Store
• Coborn’s Inc. announced its President, Dave Meyer, will retire from the company at the end of this year. He will be succeeded by David Best, current COO.
• Giant Food LLC is planning to close its distribution centers in Milford, DE; Hannover, MD; and Manassas, VA.
• Publix Super Markets Inc. recently opened a new 48,387 sq. ft. store in Winter Garden, FL, and a new 54,964 sq. ft. store in Coral Springs, FL.
• Southeastern Grocers plans to transfer all pharmacy files from Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets to CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. by the end of 2023.
• United Natural Foods Inc. has begun construction on a new distribution center in Sarasota, FL.
• Valley Markets Inc. has promoted Allen Jackson to the role of COO. Torrie Enget and Keith Vanderlin have been promoted to Area Directors.
Retail
• Ace Hardware Corp. has opened more than 100 new stores in 2023 and plans to open 70 more by the end of the year.
• Advance Auto Parts Inc. announced Shane O’Kelly as its new CEO. He replaces Tom Greco, who is retiring.
• BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc will open a new store location in Tennessee in early 2024.
• Costco Wholesale Corp. announced it plans to build a warehouse and fuel facility in Fruitport Township, MI.
• Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. has opened nine new Dick’s House of Sport locations this summer in IA, IL, NC, NY, PA, TX, and VA. The retailer anticipates opening between 75 to 100 House of Sport stores by 2027.
• Dollar General Corp. has opened a dual distribution center in Blair, NE. The new facility is 1 million square feet and will combine the efficiencies of traditional and DG Fresh supply chain functionalities.
• HSN is partnering with Fanatics Inc. to provide its customers with an assortment of products from major sports teams.
• Ikea North America opened a new 52,000 sq. ft. store location this week in downtown San Francisco, CA.
• Kodiak Building Partners named Bret Kelly as Senior VP of Kodiak’s Northeast General Lumber Division.
• L & W Supply has named Rob Wood as Regional Business Development Manager of its Northeast Region.
• Macy’s Inc. will open four new small format stores in fall 2023. The retailer plans locations in San Diego, CA; Highland, IN; Boston, MA; and Las Vegas, NV.
• Walmart Stores Inc. announced Judith McKenna is retiring as President and CEO of Walmart International. She will be succeeded by Kathryn McLay, who is currently CEO of Sam’s Club. Chris Nicholas, currently COO of Walmart Stores Inc., will take over as President and CEO of Sam’s Club. Kieran Shanahan will become the new Exec VP and COO of Walmart Stores Inc.
Restaurant
• Little Caesar’s has promoted Ed Gleich to President of Global Services and Paula Vissing to President of Retail.
• O’Charley’s has closed 18 locations this month. The company is hoping for a new start with a smaller footprint to manage.
• Popeye’s has opened a new flagship location in Shanghai. This is the company’s first location in China, and they hope to open 10 more by the end of the year.
• Sonic Drive-In has been fined $61,012 by the U.S. Department of Labor. Two franchisees in South Carolina violated child labor laws by employing 36 children between the ages of 14 and 15 to work illegally.
• Subway has been sold to Roark Capital for an estimated $9.6 billion, although the terms of the deal were not disclosed. Subway has been seeking a sale since February and the company has transitioned through several menu changes and ad campaigns to reinvent themselves. Roark also owns chains like Arby’s, Dunkin’, and Jimmy John’s. The company plans to keep Subway as a separate entity.
• Sweetgreen has named Chad Brauze as Director of Culinary and Michael Kotick as VP and Director of Marketing.
• Taco Bell is developing a new restaurant style called Taco Bell Go Mobile that will feature a smaller footprint and a dual drive-thru that is synchronized with the company’s ordering app. The company has also opened a new cantina location in San Jose, CA, that features patio seating and alcoholic beverages.
