Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store

• ARKO Corp. has appointed Richard Guidry to the newly created role of Senior VP of Foodservice.

• Couche-Tard Inc. is planning to sell 68 of its Circle K convenience stores across 21 states.

• Family Express Corp. announced plans to open more than 20 new convenience stores in Indiana.

• Heritage Grocers Group has promoted Eric Stover to President and Prabash Coswatte to COO.

• United Natural Foods Inc. announced Christopher Testa will step down as President of the company. Sandy Douglas, currently CEO, will take on the additional role of President.

• Wawa Inc. reported it plans to open approximately 60 stores in Ohio over the next eight to 10 years, with the first locations projected to open by mid-2025. The retailer also announced it plans to open its first store in Indiana by mid-2025.

Retail

• Bloomingdale’s will open a new 19,000 sq. ft. store in Seattle, WA, on November 2.

• Do it Best Corp. reported the promotion of Cody Klimkofski to IT Software Engineer. The company has hired Whitney Bullion as a Forest Product Trader, and Steve Poole as Territory Sales Manager.

• Dollar General Corp. has recently opened its first store in Montana. The retailer now has a location in all 48 states within the continental U.S.

• Macy’s Inc. reported it will open up to 30 new smaller format stores through fall 2025.

• Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings recently opened its 500th store. It is also the first location in Iowa. The retailer also opened its first Midwest distribution center in Princeton, IL.

• PPG Architectural Coatings announced that it has named its President and CEO, Tim Knavish, as Chairman.

• Target Corporation announced it will close 9 of its stores in San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY; Portland, OR; and Seattle, WA, effective October 21. The retailer cited an increase in theft and organized retail crime as the reason for the closures.

• US LBM Holdings, LLC announced that it has acquired Manning Building Supplies Inc., with 7 locations in Florida.

• Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. announced its Chief Information Officer, Hsiao Wang, is no longer at the company.

• Your Building Centers Inc. announced that it has hired Ted Garrett as the company’s new VP of Manufacturing and Installed Sales.

Restaurant

• Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii has named Gregg Koffler as Chief Development Officer.

• Chipotle is testing an automated makeline that would be used for bowls and salads. The company claims that 65% of digital orders are bowls and salads and that this automated process would free employees to focus on in-store customers and improve order accuracy.

• Domino’s is collaborating with Microsoft to develop an in-house generative AI that will improve order processing and automate some back of house tasks.

• El Pollo Loco has named Jill Adams as Chief Marketing Officer.

• Krispy Kreme is exploring a sale of their Insomnia Cookies brand that they acquired in 2018. The company is going in a new direction and wants to focus exclusively on their doughnut brand.

• Slim Chickens has entered the UK with 2 new locations.

• Starbucks has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s decision to force the company to re-hire formerly terminated employees from a Memphis store that were originally fired amid a union dispute.