Salt Lake City — Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Restaurant has promoted its president, Robert Ertmann, to chief executive officer. He has served as president of the brand since 2021. Mo’ Bettahs will look to his guidance and leadership as the brand continues its nationwide expansion, including its entrance into three new markets over the next few months. “Savory has watched Rob carefully over the past year, and we have concluded that there is no one better suited for the growth and scale of our beloved Mo’ Bettahs brand,” says Andrew …
Katie Lee
Union, N.J. — Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. aims to go back to basics: to better serve customers, drive growth and deliver business returns. To that end, Bed Bath & Beyond has realigned its executive team and also has begun closing approximately 150 lower-producing Bed Bath & Beyond banner stores. “We are announcing immediate actions aimed to increase customer engagement, drive traffic and recapture market share,” says Sue Gove, director & interim CEO. “This includes changing our merchandising and inventory strategy, which will be rooted in national brands. Additionally, we …
Stratham, N.H. — Position Imaging, Inc, a pioneer in package logistics and asset tracking technology, has added Lucas Carvalho as senior vice president of operations. Carvalho will lead all Global Operations, Service, Fulfillment and Human Resources across all of Position Imaging’s business units. The company is now adapting its tracking technology to retail logistics. Before joining Position Imaging, Carvalho, in his role as executive vice president of corporate resources, spent 17 years leading the team at BAMSI, an organization with over 2,000 employees operating out of 120 locations throughout Massachusetts. …
— By Katie Lee — Kohl’s expands with smaller-format stores, including Sephora in-store shops; launches new digital conveniences; and reduces its environmental impact. Kohl’s is going big …by strategically going small. While some traditional discount department stores might bring to mind giant power centers with huge parking fields, Kohl’s is betting on the trend that a smaller footprint can better meet the demands of today’s savvy shopper. Just because the physical space is smaller doesn’t mean big things aren’t happening. With more than 1,100 stores across the …
St. Louis — On Aug. 29, 2022, Panera Bread began testing AI technology in drive-thru lanes with an aim to improve and enhance the guest experience. With support from OpenCity, select Panera bakery-cafes in the greater Rochester, N.Y., area have implemented OpenCity’s proprietary voice AI ordering technology, called “Tori,” for drive-thru orders, with the goal of maximizing efficiency and increasing speed of orders. Guests at Panera Bread cafes in Greece, N.Y., and Webster, N.Y., are the first Panera locations to experience this drive-thru innovation. Tori is installed at these select …
Davenport, Iowa — Von Maur Department Store plans to open a 118,000-square-foot store at South Hills Village in Pittsburgh. Scheduled to open fall 2024, the store will be the company’s first location in Pennsylvania. Located at the former Sears, renovations of the new two-level Von Maur store will begin this fall and will feature the company’s exterior brick façade and interior ambiance complete with original artwork, open-floor plan and music from the store’s grand piano. “The unrivaled shopping experience created at South Hills Village through its enticing mix of shopping, …
Denver — As part of its brands’ continued transformations, REGO Restaurant Group — parent company of fast-casual sandwich chain Quiznos and regional Mexican chain Taco Del Mar, among other brands — has inked a strategic partnership and development deal with BCubed Manufacturing LLC, a Michigan-based manufacturing company that makes high-quality, fully outfitted freestanding drive-thru restaurants. With approximately 650-square-foot layouts designed for flexibility and efficiency, BCubed restaurants include both drive-thru and walk-up windows. Designed to fit on parcels of land that are too small for traditional restaurant development, BCubed restaurants contribute …
Salisbury, N.C. — With more shoppers opting to save time by ordering groceries online, Food Lion is expanding its Food Lion To Go grocery pickup service to 15 more stores in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee, beginning Aug. 29. Food Lion is offering shoppers their first pickup for free. Customers can confirm availability and place orders through the Food Lion To Go website or the Food Lion To Go app. With the click of a button, shoppers can place an order, pick up their groceries on the same day and …
Burleson, Texas — Pokemoto, Muscle Maker, Inc.’s expanding Hawaiian poke bowl restaurant concept, has opende its first Mississippi franchise location in Oxford, Miss. The opening marks the first of three previously inked franchise deals in the Mississippi market. Being near “Ole Miss” provides exposure to Pokemoto’s core targeted audience: Millennials and Gen Zs. The location features Pokemoto’s brand new interior graphic design package, signage and menu items. “We are very excited to be opening our first Pokemoto location in Mississippi, especially in Oxford — the home of the University of …
New York City — Bloomingdale’s will open its second “Bloomie’s” store location in the greater Chicagoland area at the end of 2022. Bloomie’s, which opened its first location in Fairfax, Va., in 2021, is the retailer’s smaller store concept that provides a casual, contemporary and highly curated experience. “We’re excited to be opening our second ‘Bloomie’s’ location,” says Charles Anderson, director of stores, Bloomingdale’s. “The new concept remains authentic to the Bloomingdale’s brand yet reinterprets it on a smaller scale that is infused with energy and ripe for discovery. We’re …