Sunday, May 11, 2025
Read the Magazine Subscribe
Author

Katie Lee

construction and designNewspeoplerestaurants

Local Kitchens Names New CEO; Plans to Open First L.A. Location in June

by Katie Lee

San Francisco — Local Kitchens, a category-defining restaurant brand known for its menu collaborations with award-winning chefs, has appointed Jay Gentile as its new chief executive officer. This leadership transition comes as its co-founders, Andrew Munday and Jon Goldsmith, step away from day-to-day operations, with Goldsmith continuing as chairman of the board. Gentile brings a wealth of experience in scaling and evolving restaurant brands, most recently leading Veggie Grill and its family of concepts. With a deep background in operations and market expansion, he successfully introduced and grew Caffè Nero …

Continue Reading
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
NewsProduct Spotlightrestaurantssoftware/technologyvendors

Toast Launches AI-Powered Intelligence for Restaurants

by Katie Lee

Boston — Toast has introduced ToastIQ, an intelligence engine delivering timely prompts, personalized recommendations and automated workflows designed to transform daily restaurant operations. Built natively into Toast’s end-to-end platform, ToastIQ draws on insights from millions of transactions and interactions across 130,000+ locations and fuses Toast’s deep hospitality expertise and integrated platform with AI, historical patterns and proprietary insights. As it evolves, ToastIQ will enable every role — from server to general manager to chef — to operate faster, smarter and more efficiently. Key features include: For servers: • Menu Upsells: …

Continue Reading
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
construction and designNewsretailerssoftware/technologyvendors

Walmart, Alquist 3D Complete Second 3D-Concrete Build in Alabama

by Katie Lee

Huntsville, Ala. — Walmart Inc. and Alquist 3D LLC, in partnership with FMGI, Inc., have completed the team’s second groundbreaking 3D concrete printing (3DCP) build that sets a new industry record for speed of commercial construction. The walls of the 5,000-square-foot expansion at Walmart Supercenter #5197 outside Huntsville, Ala., were “printed” in just 75 hours, significantly faster than traditional CMU (cement masonry unit) building methods. “In a commercial construction world that pays so much attention to project timelines and costs, our work with Walmart shows that 3D printing isn’t just …

Continue Reading
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
construction and designfranchise developmentNewsrestaurants

Chicken Salad Chick Opening 300th Restaurant

by Katie Lee

Atlanta — Chicken Salad Chick, the nation’s only fast-casual chicken salad restaurant concept, will open its 300th restaurant nationwide, located at 1301 S. Babcock St. in Melbourne, Fla., on May 7. This milestone follows a robust pipeline of development, with Chicken Salad Chick welcoming 37 new locations in 2024, followed by 21 in the first half of 2025 alone. “Chicken Salad Chick is a unique, one-of-a-kind restaurant concept we truly believe in,” says Allison Gibson, franchise owner, Chicken Salad Chick of Melbourne. “We love the soul behind this brand, and …

Continue Reading
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Newspeopleretailers

Kohl’s Terminates Chief Executive Officer, Names Interim CEO

by Katie Lee

Menomonee Falls, Wis. — Kohl’s Corporation’s board of directors has appointed Michael Bender as interim chief executive officer (CEO), effective immediately. Bender has served as a director of the board since July 2019 and was appointed board chair in May 2024. The board will initiate a search to identify a permanent CEO and retain a leading search firm to assist with this process. Bender’s appointment follows the board’s decision to terminate Ashley Buchanan for cause. An investigation conducted by outside counsel and overseen by the audit committee of the board …

Continue Reading
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
HVAC/RIndustry VoicesProduct Spotlightretailerssoftware/technologysupply chainvendors

Storage of the Future

by Katie Lee

— By Dana Krug — The future of retail: technology-forward, customer-centric and efficient. For years, consumer behavior has been the driving force behind the rapid growth of omnichannel retail. Today, this trend has become more pronounced than ever, with 73% of shoppers regularly engaging with multiple channels throughout their buying journey. The pandemic further accelerated this shift, making curbside pickup and other omnichannel conveniences a standard expectation rather than a luxury. Now, the future of retail is being shaped by the evolving preferences of Gen Z and millennial shoppers, who …

Continue Reading
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
construction and designCover Storyfacilities managementfranchise developmentretailers

Sharing the Love

by Katie Lee

— By Katie Lee — With more than 250 stores, Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming brings love and joy to pets and their pet parents — across more and more communities in North America. Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming, a leading pet grooming and gourmet treat destination, is coming off a banner year. In 2024, the boutique retail concept opened a record number of new stores, quadrupling its historical annual average of new openings with more than 50 new stores. Woof Gang is on track to open more than 70 …

Continue Reading
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
construction and designfranchise developmentNewsrestaurants

Gong cha Plans Significant Western U.S. Expansion; Aims to Reach 500+ U.S. Stores

by Katie Lee

Boston — Gong cha, the world’s premier bubble tea brand with nearly 2,200 stores in 29 international markets, is accelerating its U.S. growth with major expansion plans across the Western United States. With more than 200 of its 240 U.S. stores currently located east of the Rockies, the brand is now entering new markets including Arizona, the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii, as well as ramping up development in California. “With more than 200 stores east of the Rockies, we’ve laid a strong foundation — and now we’re building on that …

Continue Reading
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
construction and designmanagementNewsproperty managementremodelsretailers

DICK’S House of Sport to Anchor New Retail Offerings at PREIT’s Cherry Hill Mall

by Katie Lee

Philadelphia — PREIT has named its next wave of retail additions to Cherry Hill Mall, one of the region’s premier shopping destinations, located in Cherry Hill, N.J. Anchoring the new lineup will be DICK’S House of Sport, a new retail experience from DICK’S Sporting Goods. Replacing the former One Cherry Hill office building, the new space will open in 2026 and introduce a new entrance, infusing fresh energy into the 1.3 million-square-foot shopping center. This targeted investment aligns with PREIT’s value-enhancing strategy with a focus on repurposing underutilized real estate …

Continue Reading
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Newspeoplerestaurants

Sweetgreen Appoints New Chief Operating Officer

by Katie Lee

Los Angeles — Sweetgreen, Inc. has appointed Jason Cochran as its chief operating officer, effective May 5, 2025. Cochran will oversee field operations and as well as operations services and innovation for the company and will report directly to Sweetgreen’s co-founder and chief executive officer, Jonathan Neman. Cochran joins Sweetgreen from past positions with Pizza Hut, Chipotle and GameStop. “Jason is a trusted and visionary leader with hands-on operational experience at growth-oriented brands,” says Neman. “His strategic mindset, operational discipline and ability to inspire teams make him uniquely positioned to …

Continue Reading
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Newer Posts
Older Posts