Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store
• Bi-Rite Market will open a new supermarket on Polk Street in San Francisco, CA, on August 29.
• Couche-Tard Inc. will acquire approximately 270 GetGo locations throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana from Giant Eagle Inc.
• Food Lion LLC celebrated the reopening of 167 stores this week that it had remodeled in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina.
• The Giant Company has promoted Rebecca Lupfer to Senior VP and Chief Merchant.
• Lowes Foods Inc. will open a new Lowes Foods grocery store in Concord, NC, next week. The company also plans to close two Lowes Foods stores in Wilmington, NC, and Raleigh, NC, by the end of the month.
• Sprouts Farmers Markets will open a dozen new locations over the next few months in AZ, CA, FL, MD, NM, PA, SC, TX, and VA.
• T&T Supermarket Inc. will open its first location in California in the fall of 2025. The 55,000 sq. ft. store will be in the city of San Jose.
Retail
• Bliffert Lumber & Hardware has promoted Josh Brown to COO of the company.
• CVS Health announced it has hired Heidi Capozzi as Exec VP, Chief People Officer. She succeeds Laurie Havanec, who is leaving the company.
• Guess?, Inc. announced Markus Neubrand is stepping down as CFO. Dennis Secor, Exec VP Finance, has been appointed Interim CFO.
• Hermes USA reported it will open a new 8,500 sq. ft. store in Nashville, TN.
• Mattress Firm Inc. has partnered with DoorDash to offer two-hour delivery.
• Rite Aid Corporation is closing all of its stores in Michigan by the end of September.
• Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. named Tracey Koller as Senior VP and Chief Merchandising Officer. The retailer also named Sharmila Sudhakar as Group VP and Director of Digital Commerce.
Restaurant
• BurgerFi has warned investors that a potential bankruptcy filing is looming. The company secured $2.5 million in emergency funding earlier this month and the company was unable to file their most recent quarterly report due to financial issues.
• Burger King is partnering with Walmart to offer discounts and a free whopper to Walmart+ members.
• Chick-fil-A is launching its own streaming service this fall. The streaming platform is expected to feature unscripted family-friendly programs.
• KFC is testing a new design and technology at 16 Orlando restaurants. The redesigned stores feature digital menus and ordering kiosks along with new streamlined kitchen technology and an upgraded drive-thru. The company also updated the décor and employee uniforms.
• Olive Garden is the latest restaurant to return to value meals by bringing back their never-ending pasta bowl.
• Panera Bread is launching a new bakery menu that features pastries, cookies, and cake.
• Taco Bell is giving franchisees the option to opt out of serving breakfast beginning in October of this year. Breakfast will still be available at all company-owned locations and the company is still working on new breakfast items and an expanded coffee lineup.
• Taco John’s is joining the restaurant summer value push by offering a BOGO for a Buck offer for customers who order through the app. This offer follows their $5 Meal Steal bundle that launched earlier this year.
• Tony Roma’s has named interim CEO Mohaimina Haque as their permanent CEO.