Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store
• 7-Eleven Inc. announced it has hired Brandon Brown as Senior VP of Fresh Foods.
• Dawn Food Products Inc. has promoted Ahmet Hepdogan to Senior VP, Supply Chain and Procurement, North America.
• Fareway Stores Inc. has announced Tom Laven has been promoted to Senior VP of Retail Operations. Bryan Greiner has been promoted to VP, West Region. Theresa McLaughlin has been promoted to Senior VP of Human Resources. Rob Stevenson has been promoted to Assistant VP, Employee Engagement.
• The Fresh Market Inc. recently opened its first store location in Chicago, IL.
• Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. announced its President and CEO, RJ Sheedy, has resigned. Eric Lindberg will serve as Interim President and CEO.
• Nouria Energy Corporation reported it will acquire Enmarket Stations Inc. The transaction includes more than 130 locations.
• Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association has appointed John Zimmerman as its new Director of Communications and Media Relations.
• Sobeys Inc. has announced partnerships with both Instacart and Uber Eats to offer grocery delivery.
• Trader Joe’s Co. has opened 10 new store locations this month in AZ, CA, NV, SC, TX, UT, VA and WA.
Retail
• Amazon.com Inc. reported Tony Hoggett, Senior VP Grocery, has left the company.
• Beyond, Inc. announced Carlisha Robinson is no longer with the company.
• Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. announced that its CEO and President, Jim Conroy, plans to step down effective November 22. John Hazen has been appointed as Interim CEO.
• Do it Best Corp. has hired Curtis Smith as its new Executive Director of The Do it Best Foundation.
• Follett Higher Education Group has promoted Leann Fowler to the role of Chief Marketing Officer.
• Nordstrom Inc. announced plans to open new store locations in AZ, CA, FL, IL, MA, MN, NC, NJ, NY, and TX over the next couple years.
• PayMore Stores recently opened its 50th store location. The retailer expects to open 15 more locations by the end of the year.
• PetSmart Inc. has named Ken Hicks as its new President and CEO. He has taken over for interim President and CEO Alan Schnaid, who will continue as Exec VP and CFO.
• Rent the Runway announced it has hired Bradford Shellhammer as its new Chief Product Officer.
• R.P. Lumber Co. Inc. announced it has acquired Guyot Lumber Co. Inc.
• Ross Stores Inc. has appointed James Conroy as its new CEO, effective February 2, 2025. He will succeed Barbara Rentler, who will continue in an advisory role.
• Rural King Supply recently opened a new store location in Hopkinsville, KY.
• Sleep Number Corporation announced that Shelly Ibach plans to retire as Chairman, President and CEO.
• True Religion Apparel Inc. will open three new stores this month in Orland Park, IL, Brooklyn, NY, and San Antonio, TX.
• Wayfair Inc. has launched its first loyalty reward program.
Restaurant
• 7-Eleven is launching their own $5 meal deal that includes two slices of pizza and a soda.
• Applebee’s has closed eight franchised restaurants that belong to franchisee Apple Central. The franchisee recently filed for bankruptcy.
• Clean Eatz has named Eric Wyatt as CEO.
• El Pollo Loco is introducing an updated restaurant design to celebrate their 50th anniversary next year. The new design changes the dining furniture and adds more efficient kitchen equipment.
• Frisch’s Big Boy is facing the closure of 8 franchised restaurants in Ohio after the locations were evicted due to nonpayment of rent.
• McDonald’s says that the company’s $5 meal deal helped drive traffic among low-income consumers for the first time in over a year. The company also said that they have contained the E. coli outbreak and have put Quarter Pounders back on the menu.
• McDonald’s has been hit with a class action lawsuit over the E. coli outbreak that occurred with their Quarter Pounders. The brand is also facing other individual lawsuits from consumers that have been affected.
• Shake Shack is planning to launch their first ever loyalty program and the brand is expected to increase their growth to 80 opening per year.
• Smoothie King has debuted a new menu designed to offer GLP-1 support for consumers on weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro. They are the first quick-service chain to make this change.
• Starbucks’s oil infused Oleato beverages are being phased out of the menu. This is part of CEO Brian Niccol’s strategy to simplify Starbucks operations and menu.
• Subway is being accused of falsely advertising how much meat is in their sandwiches in a new lawsuit that was filed this week in New York. The class actions suit claims that Subway’s visual advertisements contain 200% more meat than what is actually served to customers.
• TGI Fridays has closed nearly 50 stores suddenly. No reason for the abrupt closures was given.
