Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Stores
• Aldi Inc. announced it will open 800 new stores by the end of 2028.
• Earth Fare Healthy Supermarkets has hired Rosanna Maffei as its new Corporate Nutritionist.
• Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. plans to open 15 to 20 new stores in 2024.
• Lidl US, LLC announced the appointment of Miguel Paradela to Exec VP of Purchasing and Chief Commercial Officer. Frank Kerr has been appointed as Chief Customer Officer. Tod Seiling has been hired as VP of Fresh. Michael Chao has been Director of Marketing.
• Pilot Flying J plans to open 35 new travel centers and remodel more than 75 locations in 2024.
• Rouses Enterprises LLC has partnered with DoorDash for grocery delivery.
• United Natural Foods Inc. has named Giorgio Tarditi as President and CFO. He succeeds John W. Howard who will leave the company following a transition period.
• Wegmans Food Markets Inc. will open its first store on New York’s Long Island. The 95,000 sq. ft. location is scheduled to open in early 2025.
Retail
• Bloomingdale’s stores will soon offer an assortment of more than 30 hair products.
• Do it Best Corp. and United Hardware Distributing Co. announced that they intend to merge.
• Foot Locker Inc. plans to remodel about two-thirds of its global Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker stores during the next few years.
• Rite Aid Corporation is planning to close 77 stores in 2024, including over 20 in California.
• Ross Stores Inc. reported it expects to open about 90 new locations in 2024, including 75 Ross stores and 15 DD’s stores.
• Studs announced it plans to open 10 new stores in 2024.
• Target Corporation said it plans to build more than 300 stores over the next decade.
• Walmart Canada announced John Bayliss has been promoted to COO. Laurent Duray has been promoted to the role of Chief Growth Officer. Matt Kelly has been promoted to the role of VP Supply Chain. Joe Schrauder has been appointed VP Store Operations. Additionally, Michon Williams joined the company as Chief Technology Officer.
Restaurant
• Bojangles is being sued by franchisees who claim that the company stopped providing information on how its marketing fund was being used. The franchisees also claim the company is keeping a secret accrual account for discontinued products that is not disclosed in franchise documents.
• Chuck E. Cheese is testing a tiered membership program in San Diego. The membership is an extension of the company’s successful summer passes and the test will be expanded to additional markets later in the year.
• First Watch co-founder Ken Pendery has passed away at the age of 70. Pendery became CEO in 1998 and transitioned to executive chairman in 2018.
• Landry’s owner Tilman Fertitta has purchased the 13.87-acre development River Oaks District in Houston for an estimated $450 million.
• Panera could be removing ingredient standards for some of their meat products. Reuters has reported that Panera stores have been directed to remove signs and artwork the promote the use of meat raised without antibiotics, or that is vegetarian or grass fed.
• Sweetgreen has reported that their automated Infinite Kitchens have resulted in a 10% increase in average checks.
• Texas Roadhouse has increased compensation for their executive suite and expanded their board of directors.
