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Katie Lee

Newsretailers

GU to Open First Overseas Flagship Store in New York in Fall 2024

by Katie Lee

Tokyo and New York City — GU, the Japanese apparel retailer and sister brand of UNIQLO, plans to open GU NY SOHO, the brand’s first overseas flagship store, in fall 2024 in the SoHo neighborhood of New York. Following a successful pop-up location, the permanent store will offer women’s and men’s clothing across two floors, as well as shoes, bags and accessories. An online store with the same product lineup as the physical store will also launch at the same time, delivering GU products nationwide. With a sales floor area …

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franchise developmentNewsrestaurants

Dave’s Hot Chicken to Enter Missouri with 7-Unit Agreement in St. Louis

by Katie Lee

St. Louis, Mo. — Dave’s Hot Chicken, a Los Angeles-based street food sensation turned breakthrough fast-casual brand, has signed a multi-unit agreement for seven locations across St. Louis — the brand’s first in Missouri — with established entrepreneur Raj Patel and his company, The Hari Group. The Hari Group now owns and operates over 100 franchise locations across major food brands like McAlister’s Deli, Dunkin’ and Dave’s Hot Chicken. “I’ve always believed in leading by example and ensuring that each location is effectively set up operationally to thrive,” says Patel, …

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construction and designNewsretailers

Rally House Surpasses 200 Retail Store Locations

by Katie Lee

Lenexa, Kan. — Rally House, the fastest growing sports and local apparel retailer in the nation, hit a major company milestone at the end of April by surpassing 200 storefront locations throughout the United States. The family-owned company, who has been in business since 1989, has doubled its store count in just over 2 years. During the weekend of April 27-28, Rally House opened new stores in its existing markets of Philadelphia; Louisville, Ky.; West Virginia; and Chicago, as well as opening its first location in Buffalo, N.Y. The busy …

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energy managementfacilities managementkitchen equipmentNewsProduct Spotlightvendorswaste management/recycling

Powerhouse Dynamics Activates New AI-Powered Energy Solution

by Katie Lee

Boston — Powerhouse Dynamics, a leading Internet of Things (IoT) partner to enterprise-level restaurant, QSR, convenience store and retail brands, has installed its AI-powered DemandSmart Solution in client locations across the country. The solution automatically executes demand response at scale, empowering clients to generate new revenues by lowering their energy use when the grid is experiencing peak demand. “We are excited to bring this expanded capability to our customers. Not only will they save significant energy costs using our DemandSmart module, but they will also be able to take advantage …

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Industry Voicesretailerssecurity/loss preventionsoftware/technologyvendors

Supporting Store Safety

by Katie Lee

— By Scott Thomas — Setting up your Security Operations Center (SOC): a checklist for retailers. Today, due to a combination of a changing threat environment and technology advances, more retailers are building SOCs to support store safety and investigations, and help make operational staff more efficient. Ryan Themm, corporate investigations manager at supercenter Meijer, has noted that the remote operations center (ROC) they launched to provide a complete view across all of their stores and sites has been instrumental in helping them significantly reduce budget spent on fraud mitigation. …

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energy managementgreen newsIndustry Voicesparking lots

Charging Ahead

by Katie Lee

— By Joe Haugen — What retailers need to know about the push toward electrification. There’s been a great deal of conversation related to electrification in the last several years, as people look for ways to reduce their footprint while still powering their homes, businesses and lives. Put simply, electrification refers to replacing technologies and processes that use fossil fuels with electrically powered alternatives. These replacements are typically more efficient, reducing energy demand and are likely to have a massive impact on emissions as electricity generation is decarbonized. While the …

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franchise developmentNewspeoplerestaurants

Shipley Do-Nuts Inks 14 Deals for 61 New Units; Expands Development Team

by Katie Lee

Houston — Shipley Do-Nuts continues its trend of positive same-store sales and bolsters its rapid growth trajectory with an expanded development team, 14 signed deals for 61 new locations throughout Texas and six shops opened so far in 2024. Shipley’s development team, headed by its senior vice president of franchise development, Keith Sizemore, has expanded with two key employees. Jonathan Massey joined Shipley in March as vice president of sales after serving as director of franchise development at Wingstop and, prior to that, at Pizza Hut. Also joining the team …

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franchise developmentNewspeopleretailers

Batteries Plus Promotes Chief Business Officer to COO

by Katie Lee

Hartland, Wis. — Batteries Plus has promoted Jon Sica to chief operating officer (COO). Sica will continue to drive the specialty retail brand forward by overseeing key areas of the business, including commercial sales and retail operations support. Sica started his professional career in marketing and e-commerce at outdoor giant Cabela’s, but quickly moved into executive-level positions by combining the art and science of business to find success across big box, QSR and franchise companies. He joined the Batteries Plus team from Texas icon Whataburger in April 2019 as the …

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Newspeoplerestaurants

Sage Restaurant Concepts Names New COO

by Katie Lee

Denver — Sage Hospitality Group has named Justin Fowler as the new chief operating officer for Sage Restaurant Concepts (SRC), overseeing operations of Sage’s growing list of more than 50 restaurants, bars, cafes and venues in the SRC portfolio, effective June 1.  “Our award-winning restaurants and bars are community cornerstones in the many cities and destinations where we operate,” says Daniel del Olmo, president of hotels and restaurants at Sage Hospitality Group. “Justin’s proven track record of delivering results, operational excellence as well as his deep knowledge of the fine …

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construction and designNewspaintingremodelsretailers

Von Maur to Invest $100 Million on Interior Store Renovations

by Katie Lee

Davenport, Iowa — Von Maur Department Store is undergoing an extensive, multi-phased renovation of its brick-and-mortar locations over the next 5 years. The retailer will invest more than $100 million to showcase an entirely new interior aesthetic as the 152-year-old company continues to prioritize the shopping experience for its customers. “As Von Maur has grown, new stores have evolved to reflect the trends present in residential design. It is important that we reinvest in our existing locations and bring those same updates to the customers that have been the bedrock …

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