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Katie Lee

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francesca’s® Files for Chapter 11 Protection, Will Close All Stores Nationwide

by Katie Lee

Houston — francesca’s®, a specialty retail brand known for its distinctive boutique-style experience, has voluntarily filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The filing is intended to facilitate a court-supervised process to maximize value for stakeholders. Tiger Group, SB360 Capital Partners and GA Group, acting as advisors to francesca’s, have commenced court-approved store closing sales across the company’s entire store fleet as part of the Chapter 11 process. “Shoppers will find discounts of 25% to …

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construction and designfranchise developmentNewsrestaurants

Vicious Biscuit to Debut in Virginia with First Richmond Location

by Katie Lee

Richmond, Va. — Vicious Biscuit, an award-winning fast-casual breakfast concept, is expanding into Virginia for the first time. The brand has selected its inaugural location in the Old Dominion at 3036 Stony Point Rd. in Richmond, marking a key milestone in its continued national franchise growth. Located in the Stony Point Shopping Center, the 3,678-square-foot restaurant will be operated by franchise partner GR Waldrop, a Virginia native and longtime Jersey Mike’s operator doing business as Big Boys Biscuits, LLC. Waldrop is developing the market as part of a 4+ unit …

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construction and designNewsretailers

Natural Grocers to Open First Wisconsin Store this Spring

by Katie Lee

Lakewood, Colo. — Natural Grocers®, the nation’s premier family-operated organic and natural grocery retailer, plans to open a new store in Lake Geneva, Wis., this spring. Located off North Edwards Boulevard, the new store will be Natural Grocers’ first in the state of Wisconsin, marking a significant milestone for the growing retailer. Founded in 1955, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. is an expanding specialty retailer of natural and organic groceries, body care products and dietary supplements. Natural Grocers’ flexible smaller-store format allows it to offer affordable prices in a …

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construction and designfranchise developmentNewsrestaurants

Bojangles Opens First Michigan Restaurant

by Katie Lee

Wyoming, Mich. — Bojangles, the legendary, Carolina-born chain celebrated for its iconic chicken, biscuits and breakfast, has officially arrived in Michigan. The new restaurant, located at 1730 28th St. SW in Wyoming, Mich., opened the first week of February — marking Bojangles’ first-ever location in the Great Lakes State. This expansion into Michigan marks a significant step in Bojangles’ strategic growth plan. In the past year, the brand has successfully entered new markets, with its most recent opening in Austin, Texas, following expansions in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Piscataway, N.J.; Las Vegas; …

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construction and designNewsretailers

Small-Format Whole Foods Market Daily Shop to Open in Brooklyn

by Katie Lee

New York City — Whole Foods Market will open another location of its smaller format store concept, Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood on Feb. 25, 2026. The 7,888-square-foot store will be located at 774 Grand St., Brooklyn, N.Y. The smaller format store features more than 350 local items from over 250 Northeast suppliers. Whole Foods Market Daily Shop initially launched in 2024 on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, followed by additional Manhattan locations as well as a smaller-format store in Arlington, Va., which opened in …

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construction and designCover StoryFrom The Magazineremodelsretailersstore closings

Value & Variety

by Katie Lee

— Interview with Adam Kirk — Winn-Dixie marks its centennial with new ownership, a new (old) name and a right-sized store fleet. Winn-Dixie, the iconic southern grocer, is marking a banner year in 2025: 100 years in business as of September 2025 and returning to steer its own ship, under its own name. In 2024, Winn-Dixie’s parent company, Jacksonville, Florida-based Southeastern Grocers (SEG), was acquired by the German supermarket company ALDI, which planned to convert 220 Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores to ALDI banners between 2024 and 2027. These conversions remain …

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franchise developmentNewspeoplerestaurants

Starbird Appoints New CEO to Lead National Expansion

by Katie Lee

San Francisco — Starbird has appointed Greg Levin as chief executive officer and board member, effective immediately. Levin will lead the company’s next phase of national expansion, bringing a guest-first leadership mindset, a proven record of scaling premium restaurant brands and deep experience building disciplined, high-performing restaurant concepts and operating systems. As part of the transition, Starbird founder Aaron Noveshen will move fully into the role of chairman of the board. In this capacity, he will continue stewarding the brand’s long term vision and values at the board level, ensuring …

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construction and designNewsretailers

ANTA Opens First U.S. Flagship Store in Beverly Hills

by Katie Lee

Beverly Hills, Calif. — ANTA, one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing sportswear companies, will officially open its first U.S. flagship store in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 13, marking a major milestone in the brand’s global expansion and long term investment in the American market. Located in the heart of Beverly Hills, the flagship serves as ANTA’s U.S. brand hub and a physical expression of the company’s performance innovation, athlete-driven design and global vision. Situated at 330 N. Beverly Dr., the approximately 2,500- to 3,000-square-foot space features a curated …

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Starbucks Coffee
construction and designfranchise developmentNewsrestaurantssoftware/technology

Starbucks to Open 400 Net-New U.S. Stores as Part of Overall Transformation Plan

by Katie Lee

Seattle — At its recent 2026 Investor Day, Starbucks Coffee Company highlighted progress in its “Back to Starbucks” transformation plan, showcasing new coffeehouse and menu innovation, and detailing a financial framework for delivering long term, sustainable growth. By fiscal 2028, the company expects to open 2,000 net new stores across its portfolio, including approximately 400 net new U.S. company-operated stores. “Starbucks is back,” says Brian Niccol, chairman and chief executive officer. “We’re putting the customer at the center of everything we do and setting our partners up for success. We …

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NewsProduct Spotlightrestaurantssoftware/technologyvendors

Five Guys Extends Partnership with SoundHound AI

by Katie Lee

Santa Clara, Calif. — SoundHound AI, Inc., a global leader in voice and conversational AI, has expanded its relationship with Five Guys, one of the nation’s most iconic burger brands. The renewal highlights the strength of the collaboration, as SoundHound’s AI-powered ordering agents have already supported Five Guys in processing well over 1 million customer AI interactions to date. The fast-casual favorite and industry innovator already offers an AI-powered ordering experience across hundreds of locations and will be giving franchisees the option of offering them more through this agreement. Five …

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