Author

Katie Lee

Boston — Pizzeria Uno, the neighborhood pizzeria franchise known all over the world as the birthplace of Chicago-style deep dish, is launching a new restaurant conversion franchise opportunity for hotel owners. Prospective franchisees now have the chance to leverage the brand’s menu, support infrastructure and ROI potential to open a full-service Pizzeria Uno restaurant connected to their hotel. This new growth strategy comes after the company converted three in-hotel restaurants in the Midwest into Pizzeria Uno locations earlier this year, all of which saw an impressive increase in their food …

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Downers Grove, Ill. — Liz Zolcak has been named the new president of Fresh Thyme Market, succeeding Gerald Melville, who has announced his retirement after a 43-year retail career. “I am thrilled and humbled to take on this exciting new challenge and to be trusted to lead such an incredible team,” Zolcak says. “Gerald and I have been able to accomplish significant wins with the team during our time working together, and I’m looking forward to even more successes ahead.” Zolcak has 17 years of retail leadership experience and joined …

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Austin, Texas — Chicken Salad Chick, the nation’s only fast-casual chicken salad restaurant concept, has signed franchise agreements that will bring nearly 20 new restaurants to Texas over the next 5 years. The brand has signed two major deals over the past year in Texas— one for eight units in San Antonio in October 2021 and most recently one for eight units in Austin. Chicken Salad Chick already has 21 existing locations across Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. The brand plans to open five new locations in Texas this year, …

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Union, N.J. — Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. has made significant changes to its senior leadership to focus on reversing recent results, addressing supply chain and inventory, and strengthening its balance sheet. Sue Gove, an independent director on the company’s board of directors and chair of the board’s Strategy Committee, has been named interim chief executive officer, replacing Mark Tritton, who has left his role as president and chief executive officer and as a member of the board. “After thorough consideration, the board determined that it was time for a …

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Greenwood Village, Colo. — Paul Murphy, president and chief executive officer of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc., has informed the company’s board of directors that he intends to retire at the end of 2022 when his employment agreement expires. Murphy will be assisting the board as they search to identify a successor and will remain as a special advisor until March 31, 2023 to work with the board and his successor to ensure a smooth transition of leadership. Murphy is an experienced veteran of the restaurant industry having begun his …

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Sunnyvale, Calif. — Matterport, Inc., the leading spatial data company driving the digital transformation of the built world, has partnered with GUESS?, Inc., the global fashion brand and retailer, to adopt Matterport digital twins to ensure brand consistency across its stores and create immersive, virtual experiences for its employees, external buyers and wholesale partners. Since 2017, GUESS has used Matterport digital twins, or photorealistic digital replicas of stores, to realize a 200% increase in productivity, a 30% decrease in travel costs, and a 95% reduction in departmental paper and printer …

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Denver — GrowGeneration Corp., the nation’s largest chain of specialty hydroponic and organic garden centers, has opened a new hydroponic garden center to serve the emerging Mississippi market. The new store in Jackson becomes the first in Mississippi, and the company’s 64th store nationwide and will expand the number of states the company operates in to 14. The store opened on June 27, 2022. Additionally, the company has signed two leases in North Chesterfield, Va., and Hazelwood, Mo. These stores are expected to be opened in the second half of …

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New York City — As part of an aggressive expansion plan for North America, German Doner Kebab USA (GDK USA) has hired Robert Bray (pictured) as operations director and Mark Treptow as director of franchise development, along with recent hires Georgina Cavendish, chief financial officer, and Darren Cooke as marketing director. GDK was founded in 1989. Reporting to Nigel Belton, GDK North America’s managing director, Bray has more than 20 years of operations experience with YUM! Brands and was most recently senior regional franchise director at Church’s Chicken. Treptow has …

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Cincinnati, Ohio — The Kroger Co. has given customers increased access to electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, underscoring its commitment to helping customers make sustainable choices. The grocer tested and phased in charger installations by collaborating with Blink, Electrify America, EVgo, Tesla and Volta to bring hundreds of charging stations to stores in select markets across the U.S. “Increasing our customers’ access to EV charging stations at convenient Kroger locations supports our collective transition to a lower-carbon economy,” says Yael Cosset, senior vice president and chief information officer for Kroger. …

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Cleveland, Ohio — Legacy Roofing Services, one of the largest commercial roofing service providers in the United States, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this month as one of the premier commercial and residential roofing services company in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Legacy Roofing Services was founded in 2012 as a father-and-son business. By the end of 2012, the company had approximately 20 employees, two trucks and $3 million in annual revenue. Today, the company has more than 175 employees and a fleet of 60 trucks with 2022 revenue expected to exceed …

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