Glen Allen, Va. — Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co. will close all stores of its retail subsidiary, The Kitchen Collection, by the end of the year. Kitchen Collection employs approximately 800 people at 160 stores across 37 states. The company previously closed about 35 underperforming stores in an effort to maintain long term profitability, but higher operating losses in the first half of 2019 have prompted Hamilton Beach Brands to shutter the chain entirely. “Despite our best efforts to return Kitchen Collection to profitability through footprint consolidation, further deterioration in …
Boston — Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh, a leading fast-casual Mediterranean franchise, is coming to Boston. This will be the fast-growing brand’s first location in New England. The restaurant is opening this winter at 134 Boylston St. and will be followed by several other locations in the market. “I’m so excited to open our first location and share our fresh cuisine with Bostonians,” says Derek St. George, co-owner of the new Boston locations who will be opening the restaurants with brother and sister duo Karl and Leigha Schmidt. “Today’s consumer is very …
Mt. Angel, Ore. — Wilco, a farmer-owned cooperative, plans to open a new store in Petaluma, Calif., in May 2020. This opening will mark the retailer’s entrance into California and will expand the specialty retailer’s footprint to 22 locations on the West Coast. Committed to nurturing the passions of rural living families, the brand will occupy the former Orchard Supply Hardware space. Similar to that long-time Petaluma retailer, Wilco carries a wide range of hardware supplies alongside land, lawn, garden, livestock and pet-related products and services. The retailer plans to employ …
Fayetteville, Ark. — Slim Chickens, a leading fast-casual franchise which features dine-in and drive-through, has launched an aggressive multi-unit growth initiative to expand its presence in key markets across the United States. With a goal to reach 600 locations over the next 10 years, the brand is focusing its expansion initiative on Southern, Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states in the near term. The announcement comes on the heels of seven recently signed multi-unit franchise agreements totaling 71 units. With 350 locations in development, Slim Chickens is slated to open its …
Mentor, Ohio — MC Group and Icon have merged to form one of the largest brand implementation companies in the United States. The combined organization now provides comprehensive signage, construction, energy and maintenance solutions to some of the nation’s largest and most recognized brands. “This has been an exciting process as we are strategically combining two of the largest players in our industry,” says Tim Eippert, MC Group’s chief executive officer. “Both MC Group and Icon have strong signage businesses at their core. We can expand on those complimentary capabilities …
Cincinnati — LSI Industries Inc., a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of outdoor and indoor lighting and graphics for commercial, industrial and multi-site retail applications, has been selected to produce and implement the interior graphics and signage program at a HEB Grocery Company (H-E-B) Houston location. H-E-B operates 400 stores in Texas and Mexico and has annual sales of $26 billion. The recent grand opening of this H-E-B location is the first in a rollout of “new urban” store designs that H-E-B is initiating. LSI Industries produced all of the store’s interior …
Chicago — A new wave of urban, experiential and independent retail concepts catering to changing consumer demands has led to the rise of 100 “Cool Streets” across the U.S. and Canada, according to a report released earlier this mo nth by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. The firm’s Cool Streets of North America report explores what’s driving the rise of the hottest retail districts across the U.S. and Canada. It outlines the top 20 Cool Streets in depth: Portland (whole city); Austin (whole city); Denver (whole city); …
Tampa, Fla. — Anna Schmidt Interior Design has been selected for work on Free the Cork Wine Bar, a wine tasting and small plates restaurant coming to Sparkman Wharf, Tampa’s transformational Water Street Tampa neighborhood. Free the Cork Wine Bar, scheduled to open spring 2020, is the new hotspot for Sparkman Wharf’s office tenants, visitors and the Tampa community as a whole. The restaurant is located on the ground floor of Sparkman Wharf. Overlooking views of a scenic park and dining garden, it will serve as a place for friends …
St. Louis — Confluent Development has completed its redevelopment of the historic Southwest Bank property in St. Louis’ Southwest Garden neighborhood. The project features retailers BMO Harris Bank, which remained operational throughout the redevelopment process, and Walgreens, which recently celebrated its grand opening. Confluent Development, a Denver-based real estate investment and development firm, serves as the project’s developer and owner. The infill project represents the first development of its kind in St. Louis by preserving the historical façade along the Kingshighway Boulevard portion of the project while redeveloping the remainder …
— By Del Williams — Taking convenience stores to the next level with IP network surveillance systems. Convenience stores and mini marts have traditionally installed surveillance cameras to deter crime and encourage safety, but too often these have provided images that lacked detail, particularly in low light conditions. Retrieving video has usually been tedious, requiring endless searching and scanning to find the desired footage. Sharing and archiving of the video has also been cumbersome, wasting precious technical and management resources. Now advanced digital IP video cameras and recorders are …