Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store
• Ahold-Delhaize has appointed Alex Holt as Chief Sustainability Officer, effective June 1, 2024. She succeeds Jan Ernst de Groot, who will retire.
• Aldi Inc. will open 20 new stores in December in CA, FL, GA, IA, IL, LA, MD, MI, MN, MS, MO, NY, OH, and TN.
• Big Y Foods Inc. has appointed Christian P. D’Amour as District Director for 16 stores throughout Connecticut.
• Meijer Inc. will open a 40,000 sq. ft. Fairfax Market in Cleveland, OH, in January.
• Publix Super Markets Inc. will open a new 46,791 sq. ft. store in Suffolk, VA, next week.
• Sprouts Farmers Markets has revealed plans to open seven new stores in the next few months. They include stores in Bakersfield, CA, Burtonsville, MD, Coconut Grove, FL, Cudahy, CA, Port Charlotte, FL, Rockwall, TX, and Victorville, CA.
Retail
• 84 Lumber Co. announced that it will open a new facility in late December in Cartersville, GA.
• Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. announced that Frank Lonegro, Exec VP and CFO, is leaving the company effective February 1, 2024.
• Big Lots Stores Inc. has named Kristen Cox as Senior VP and Chief Stores Officer. Seth Marks has been hired for the newly formed role of Senior VP, Extreme Value Sourcing.
• Claire’s Holdings LLC has appointed Chris Cramer as CFO and COO.
• Do it Best Corp. announced it has hired Emily Mudd as Consumer Marketing Specialist.
• Macy’s, Inc. announced that Tracy Preston has been named Chief Legal officer and Corporate Secretary, effective January 8, 2024.
• Sam’s Club reported it is opening two new distribution centers in Edwardsville, IL, and Shakopee, MN, in early 2024.
• Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. reported Scott Settersten will retire as CFO, Treasurer and Assistant, effective April 1, 2024. Paula Oyibo, currently Senior VP of Finance, will succeed Settersten as CFO.
• Westlake Ace Hardware recently opened a new location in Jenks, OK. The retailer is planning to open a new store in Agoura Hills, CA, in late 2024.
Restaurant
• Burger King has entered an agreement to purchase 200 franchised locations from franchisee EG Group in the United Kingdom. Burger King plans to use the deal to accelerate growth in the UK and Ireland.
• Huddle House has named Blain Shortreed as Brand President.
• Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken has launched a new restaurant prototype that features a dual drive-thru and a pickup area for online ordering. The new prototype is part of the company’s recent rebranding efforts.
• McDonald’s is opening a new concept, called CosMc’s, in Chicago this week. The concept is focused on specialty beverages and sandwiches and will include a few McDonald’s items like the McMuffin and McFlurry. Nine more test locations are set to open in Texas during the first half of next year.
• Maggiano’s has named Dominique Bertolone as President.
• Panera has reportedly filed for an IPO confidentially. The company has not commented on the reported filing and could look to go public next year.
• Panera is facing a lawsuit for allegedly failing to warn consumers about the caffeine content in their charged lemonade beverage. The suit comes from the family of David Brown who claim that he died of a cardiac event after consuming three servings of the beverage. This is the second death being attributed to the company’s Charged Lemonade.
• Qdoba has closed their $305 million securitization and is planning to use the funds to remodel and expand with plans to double their existing footprint.
• Red Robin has named Meghan Spuler as Chief People Officer.
• Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux has named Laurie Curtis as Chief Marketing Officer
