Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store
• Ahold-Delhaize announced FreshDirect Inc. is no longer part of the company.
• Baldor Specialty Foods Inc. announced that Seth Gottlieb has joined the company as Senior VP of Logistics. Andrew Howell has been named Senior VP of Operations. And Avisheh Avini has been named as its General Counsel.
• Kwik Trip Inc. reported it plans to open several new stores in Wisconsin over the next few years.
• RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. is planning to open its first store locations in South Carolina in 2024.
• Tops Markets LLC has promoted Jillian Dowdle to the role of Marketing Coordinator.
• Whole Foods Market Inc. is opening a new store in South Windsor, CT, on January 17.
Retail
• AutoZone Inc. announced that William Rhodes, its Chairman, President and CEO, will step down in January, and become Executive Chairman. He will be succeeded by Philip B. Daniele.
• Conn’s HomePlus announced that Norman L. Miller has been named President and CEO.
• Conn’s HomePlus has acquired W.S. Badcock Corporation, which will operate as a subsiadiary.
• Costco Wholesale Corp. said it plans to open 31 new locations next year, including 24 in the US. Two locations will be relocated.
• The Container Store Inc. reported it has opened its 100th location, in Princeton, NJ.
• Miniso USA recently celebrated the opening of its 100th U.S. location. The 2,084 sq. ft. store is in Orlando, FL.
• Nordstrom Inc. plans to open a new 24,000 sq. ft. Nordstrom Rack store in Franklin, TN, in fall 2024. The company also plans to open a 25,000 sq. ft. Nordstrom Rack store in Noblesville, IN, in fall 2024.
• The Timberland Company has named Nina Flood as Global Brand President.
• Vuori Clothing has named Karen Riley-Grant as its new Chief Marketing Officer.
Restaurant
• Chick-fil-A could be forced to keep restaurants located inside New York travel plazas open on Sunday. A bill has been introduced by a New York lawmaker that would require all restaurants that operate inside New York travel plazas to remain open 7 days a week. Chick-fil-A owns 9 such restaurants. The company that manages these rest stops factored in Chick-fil-A’s operating policy and has other restaurants available in the plazas where Chick-fil-A operates.
• Chuck E. Cheese has partnered with Goldman Sachs to explore the interest in a potential sale.
• Dave & Buster’s CFO Michael Quartieri has announced his retirement, He will remain as CFO until a successor is appointed.
• McDonald’s is reviewing the child labor practices of franchisees through surveys after facing several lawsuits over the past few years.
• Newk’s has been purchased by FSC Franchise.
• Tropical Smoothie Café is exploring a $2 billion sale.
• Walk-On’s has named Jamie Davis as VP of Supply Chian and Procurement and Tyler Schack as VP of Technology.
