Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store
• Buc-ee’s Ltd. recently opened its first location in Missouri. The 53,000 sq. ft. store is in Springfield.
• Casey’s General Stores Inc. said it expects to open at least 150 new stores in fiscal 2024.
• Coborn’s, Inc. announced that Jenn Weisgram has been promoted to VP of Merchandising Operations.
• Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. announced its CFO, Charles Bracher, has resigned from the company effective March 1.
• New Leaf Community Markets Inc. has partnered with DoorDash to offer consumers on-demand grocery delivery.
• Save-A-Lot has named Fred Boehler as its CEO.
• Sprouts Farmers Markets is now partnering with Uber Eats to provide grocery delivery for its customers.
• Whole Foods Market Inc. recently opened a new 50,000 sq. ft. store in Madison, WI. The company announced it is opening a new 43,400 sq. ft. location in South Windsor, CT, in January.
Retail
• Birkenstock reported it has opened its fifth store in the U.S. It is located in Miami, FL.
• BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. is opening new locations in Ohio and Tennessee on December 15.
• Claire’s Holdings LLC recently opened its first store location in Mexico.
• Dollar General Corp. said that it expects to open 800 new stores in fiscal 2024, along with 2,000 remodels and 120 store relocations.
• Dollar General Corp. announced it has appointed Jeff Mooney as Senior VP, Store Operations. Jeff Rudy has been named Senior VP, Transportation. Scott Kear was appointed as Divisional VP. And Macedonio Garza has joined the retailer as Managing Director of Mexico.
• Levi Strauss & Co. reported that Chip Bergh will retire from the company as of April 26, 2024. Michelle Gass will succeed Bergh as President and CEO, effective Jan. 29, 2024.
• PVH Corp. announced Sophia Hwang-Judiesch has been named President of Tommy Hilfiger LLC, effective Jan. 8. The retailer also announced the promotion of Amba Subrahmanyam to Chief People Officer, effective Feb. 5.
• Rue 21 announced Elisa Bannon-Jones has been appointed as Senior VP, Chief People Officer. The retailer also said Michele Pascoe has been promoted to Exec VP, CFO.
• Swarovski North America reported it has opened a new location in New York City, NY. The two-floor, 14,400 sq. ft. store is the largest ever for the jeweler.
• Torrid Holdings Inc. has promoted its Interim CFO, Paula Dempsey, to the role of CFO.
• Uniqlo announced it plans to open 20 new locations across North America in 2024. The new stores will be in AB, MA, NY, ON, RI, and WA.
Restaurant
• BurgerFi and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza are planning to open their first co-branded store next week in Kissimmee, FL.
• Cali Group has teamed with Miso Robotics to open an automated restaurant that is run by Flippy AI called CaliExpress by Flippy.
• Chipotle is investing $50 million in a robotics company that uses AI to manufacture weed-cutting robots. The company is also investing in a fertilizer company that creates fertilizer that generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
• Congress has introduced a resolution that would overturn the National Labor Relations Board’s ruling that franchisors and franchisees would be considered joint employers.
• Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken is debuting a new AI technology at their drive-thru that will use the AI cloned voice of Hall of Famer Keith Byars to take customer orders.
• New York City has raised the minimum wage of food delivery workers from $11 an hour to $18 an hour with the increase to start next summer.
• Rock N Roll Sushi has named Craig LeMieux as CEO.
• SPB Hospitality has named Kristen Hohl as VP of Marketing.
• T.G.I. Friday’s has named Ray Risley as U.S. President and COO and Nik Rupp as President of International Markets and CFO.
• Waffle House will begin accepting digital orders and payment for the first time in 2024.
• Wendy’s AI drive-thru test has now moved into 4 restaurants and could expand soon.
• Wingstop has named Chris Fallon as Chief Information Officer.
