Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store

Free Trial• Albertsons Companies, Inc. has partnered with Grubhub to offer delivery services for its customers.

• Blain’s Farm & Fleet Inc. has named Mark Hasting as CEO and President. Jane Blain Gilbertson will take on a new role as Executive Chair. Kim Treece is being promoted to Chief Stores Officer.

• Couche-Tard Inc. announced that its President and CEO Brian Hannasch is retiring. He will be succeeded by Alex Miller.

• Fast Track Foods announced all its convenience store locations have been acquired by Anabi Oil.

• Festival Foods will open two new grocery stores this fall in Kimberly and Hudson, WI.

• RaceTrac Inc. recently opened its second location in the state of Indiana, in Indianapolis.

• Trader Joe’s Co. announced it will open a new location this month in Murrieta, CA. The company is planning to open new stores in Ladera Ranch, CA, and King of Prussia, PA, later this year.

• Whole Foods Market Inc. will open a new 43,916 sq. ft. store next month in Huntington Station, NY.

 

Retail

• Amazon.com Inc. recently opened a new 35,000 sq. ft. Amazon Fresh location in Eatontown, NJ.

• BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. announced it will open new locations in Hanover, NJ, and Southern Pines, NC, early next year. In addition, BJ’s will open its first location in Kentucky, in the city of Louisville, next year.

• Do it Best Corp. announced it has hired Chris Okapal as the new Director of Business Development.

• Dollar General Corp. announced Tony Rogers has joined the company as Senior VP, Chief Marketing Officer. Tim Bartlett has been named VP, Asset Protection. Matt Frame has been promoted Division VP, Store Operations. Natalie McConnell has joined the company as VP, DMM Holiday, Toys, and Lawn and Garden. Jimmy Nguyen has been promoted to VP, DMM, Health and Beauty. Kaushik Paul has been named Division VP, Store Operations. Brett Sorensen has been promoted to Division VP, Store Operations.

• L.L. Bean Inc. recently opened a new store in Ulster, NY. Three additional locations are scheduled to open this fall in Mechanicsburg, PA, Indianapolis, IN, and Enfield, CT.

• Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings recently opened its first store in Wisconsin, in Kenosha. The retailer will open two more new stores this month in Cortland, NY, and DeKalb, IL.

• Rally House recently opened a new store location in Texas City, TX.

• Target Corporation has promoted Cristina Hennington to Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Rick Gomez to Chief Commercial Officer, and Lisa Roath to Chief Merchandising Officer of Food, Essentials and Beauty.

 

Restaurant

• Arby’s franchisee Miracle Restaurant Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will seek to sell all locations.

• Cracker Barrel is testing their new menu in 14 Texas locations. The menu features 20 new items and is easier to navigate and reduces stress on the kitchen.

• Hooters has closed 41 restaurants citing rising costs and low consumer traffic as reasons for the closures.

• McDonald’s Joe Erlinger has confessed that the McPlant plant-based burger was not a success in the U.S. The burger is available in the U.K. and Ireland, but it performed poorly in U.S. tests.

• Panera is facing a class action lawsuit from up to 100 employees. The lawsuit alleges that the company failed to protect highly sensitive information, including employee social security numbers, following a data breach in March.

• Perkins is rebranding as Perkins American Food Company. The rebrand will also include a new restaurant design featuring a new logo.

• Smashburger is simplifying their menu and redesigning the look of their stores alongside an updated mobile app. These changes are part of the company’s plan to improve sales and traffic.

• Subway franchisee River Sub has filed for bankruptcy after a wrongful death appeal was upheld. The company was ordered to $2.97 million to the family of a manager who was murdered at one of their restaurants.

• Taco Cabana has named John Ramsay as Director of Franchise Sales and Development.