Pittsburgh — Dick’s Sporting Goods reported a record level of quarterly earnings for its fiscal second quarter, which ended Aug. 1. The company reported $276.8 million in consolidated net income and boosted its earnings per share by 155% relative to the second quarter of 2019. The Pittsburgh-based retailer cited booming e-commerce sales, which rose by 194% year over year, as a key driver in the company’s growth. In addition, Dick’s noted that through the first 3 weeks of the third quarter, same-store sales have already increased by 11% compared to …
— By Crystal Jacobs — Restaurant cybersecurity and cyber insurance are more relevant than ever as online orders boom amid COVID-19. As the Covid-19 viral pandemic continues to cause major disruptions throughout the global economy, countless restaurants across the United States have shifted to a delivery- or pickup-only business model in order to survive, often with a heavy reliance on online orders and digital payment. Criminal actors are taking advantage of this spike in online commerce: March 2020 saw a 600% increase in email phishing scams, whereby criminals send …
— By Marc Ferguson — A closer look at electrostatic sprayers. Of all industries, COVID-19 has impacted the hospitality industry just about the hardest. Now, as restaurants around the country begin to reopen, most are taking several steps to ensure patrons feel safe and are safe in their properties. One restaurant in Texas went so far as to hire a “bathroom monitor.” The duties of this bathroom monitor is to clean restrooms after every use. While most restaurants and hospitality properties are increasing cleaning frequencies considerably, for most, cleaning restrooms …
Los Angeles — Foot Locker has opened its first West Coast community-based power store in Compton, Calif. The new 12,800-square-foot store — which opened on Aug. 26 — offers an elevated retail experience, including full-family shopping with exclusive product, custom store artwork by local artists, a curbside pickup window and an activation space that will host ongoing community events for the sneaker-obsessed. “As part of our commitment to bring the best localized expression of Foot Locker to consumers, we are excited to expand our power store model to the West Coast …
Minneapolis — Alissa Partee has joined Restaurant Technologies as chief people officer. Her role at Restaurant Technologies, the top provider of foodservice cooking oil and hood and flue management solutions, will be to lead human resources and expand upon the company’s exceptional and growing talent base. In addition, she will oversee learning and development, diversity and inclusion, HR technology and total rewards. Partee’s arrival follows the successful acquisitions of AutoMist and Grease Lock and an expanded employee base. The company now has 41 depots and more than 1,000 team members …
Arlington, Va. — Discount grocer Lidl US plans to open 50 new stores in nine states on the East Coast by the end of 2021. Arlington, Va.-based Lidl US will invest $500 million and hire 2,000 employees as part of the expansion. The footprints of the new stores will include six in Georgia, one in South Carolina, five in North Carolina, seven in Virginia, 10 in Maryland, six in New York, 10 in New Jersey, one in Delaware and four in Pennsylvania. Germany-based Lidl currently operates 11,000 grocery stores in …
Longmont, Colo. — Ziggi’s Coffee, which was recently ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies, has signed an agreement with new franchisees David and Amber King to open the company’s first unit in the state of Texas. The couple will begin with this Katy, Texas, unit and plan to expand from there. “Once this one goes well and we’ve hit it out of the park, our long term plan is to expand and build as many as we can before we’re old and gray,” says David …
New York City — Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. has unveiled plans for the redevelopment of the upper floors of its flagship store at 727 5th Ave. in Manhattan. The top three floors of the 10-story building will be converted from office space into a new exhibition and event space surrounded by a curtain of glass complementing the limestone façade below. That space was originally completed in 1980, and the building itself was originally constructed in 1940. Tiffany has partnered with The Office of Metropolitan Architecture on the project, which …
Minneapolis — Target reported a 24.3% increase in total digital and in-store sales for the second quarter compared with the same period a year ago, the highest quarterly growth in the Minneapolis-based discount retailer’s history. Same-store sales grew by 10.9% during the quarter, while digital sales experienced a whopping 195% growth year over year. CNBC reports that during a call with reporters, Target CEO Brian Cornell stated that the volume of sales fulfilled by the company’s curbside pickup program grew by more than 70%, and that the company’s digital customer …
Frederick, Md. — The Plamondon Companies, operator of 49 Roy Rogers restaurants and 13 hotels in the Mid-Atlantic, announces the passing of Peter H. Plamondon, Sr. on August 16, 2020. He was 88. Pete Plamondon, Sr., started The Plamondon Companies 40 years ago, after spending 16 years as a corporate executive vice president for Marriott, overseeing its restaurant division. While at Marriott, he played an integral role in launching and overseeing Roy Rogers Restaurants. In following his entrepreneurial ambitions, he struck out on his own in 1979 and established Plamondon …