Riverside, Calif. — Farmer Boys®, the farm fresh fast-casual chain, has named David Wetzel, its current senior vice president of operations, as its new president and chief operating officer. The promotion comes alongside the announcement that Farmer Boys’ current president and COO, Karen Eadon, has retired after 6 years with the company and nearly 40 in the restaurant industry. In his new role as president and COO, Wetzel will be responsible for driving overall brand strategy, corporate and franchised development and restaurant performance. Wetzel joined the Farmer Boys team in …
Mill Valley, Calif. — The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC), a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit working to advance climate-friendly natural refrigerants in supermarkets, is launching a new pilot program to offset the upfront costs of natural refrigerant technologies. “High upfront cost is the primary hurdle preventing the adoption of environmentally friendly natural refrigerants,” says Danielle Wright, NASRC executive director. “Funding support is key to bridging the gap and stimulating the economies of scale necessary to bring costs down.” NASRC’s new Aggregated Incentives Program (AIP) pilot is a free platform to …
Toronto — TouchBistro, an all-in-one POS platform for restaurants, has hired John Doolittle to join its executive leadership team as chief financial officer. As CFO, Doolittle will guide the transformation of TouchBistro’s financial structure to prepare for its future growth, including operational strategy, regulatory and disclosure planning, tax restructuring and management of capital markets. Most recently, Doolittle was CFO at OpenText, a global software company with a $10 billion market capitalization. He also held many senior finance roles during 22 years at NORTEL, a multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment …
Woonsocket, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy has added 55 COVID-19 testing sites in North Carolina and 15 sites in South Carolina. The tests are accessible through appointments only. Patients will be required to stay in their cars and will be directed to the pharmacy drive-thru window, where they will be provided with a test kit and given instructions. A CVS team member will observe the self-swab process to ensure it is done properly. Tests will be sent to an independent, third-party lab for processing and the results will be available in approximately …
— By Mike Welsh — Retail curbside pickup and mobile apps are here to stay — what that reliance on a digital platform means for the industry moving forward in a post-COVID world. In an effort to understand how retail curbside pickup, mobile apps and other digital-first retail strategies will change shopping habits even post-COVID, Retail & Restaurant Facility Business interviewed Mike Welsh of the Waltham, Massachusetts-based digital consulting firm Mobiquity. R&R: In this new era of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers must offer a digital-first option in order …
— By Jill Woodside — Facilities management during crises: Best practices to succeed. Numerous risks surround facilities management and those problems swell during major facilities management crises. The COVID-19 crisis is the most obvious, but its impact on facilities management is a true Black Swan event. According to James M. Berklan of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, the costs of PPE have increased over 1,000% amid the crisis, and while it’s easy to only associate that cost with direct care workers, what about the PPE that facilities management custodial professionals …
— By Ahmed Abouelenein — Today, ghost kitchens are more important than ever. Early on, The Halal Guys embraced the possibilities inherent in ghost kitchens as a tool to expand the reach of our business and grow revenue. We now have become one of their leading proponents for several reasons. In essence, ghost kitchens are 100% delivery-only facilities, alleviating our brick-and-mortar and cart locations, especially during peak times. They help take the pressure off our retail businesses. As a result, our brick-and-mortar locations have been able to wholly focus …
Plano, Texas — J. C. Penney Company, Inc. has begun implementing its store optimization strategy by identifying the first 154 stores to close. Following entry of an order at the June 11, 2020, hearing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, in Corpus Christi, Texas, store closing sales will begin at 154 locations. The company expects additional phases of store closing sales will begin in the coming weeks. Additionally, the company intends to reduce its store footprint and focus resources on its strongest stores and e-commerce …
Salt Lake City — Mercato Partners has launched its inaugural food and beverage fund, Savory. This new fund of $90 million will make investments into compelling, up-and-coming restaurant concepts by providing access to capital together with a team of experienced industry professionals to fuel growth and operations. To create this unique investment practice, Mercato Partners founder Greg Warnock partnered with restaurant industry veteran Andrew K. Smith to lead the newly formed fund along with several members of his leadership team. Savory combines the experience of Smith and his team in …
Las Vegas — Online retailer Barbell Apparel, in conjunction with International Retail Group (IRG), is set to open its first brick-and-mortar store in Las Vegas on June 8. The new store will be in the heart of Downtown Summerlin, a large outdoor shopping center owned by the Howard Hughes Corporation. Barbell Apparel was founded by a team of life-long friends and athletes who started their story by launching their Athletic Fit Jeans on Kickstarter. “A store is the next step in our plans to grow the Barbell Apparel brand,” says …