— Interview by Katie Lee — How The Container Store’s new prototype design enhances the customer experience. When The Container Store unveils a new store prototype, you can bet it is innovative, organized, high-tech, and a completely refreshing customer experience. On those points, the Dallas-based home organization retailer does not disappoint. Two years in the making and created by FRCH NELSON in partnership with digital agency MJD Interactive, The Container Store’s next generation store mirrors individual rooms in a home, allowing customers to visualize how each room in their home, …
Troy, Ohio — Foodservice industry leaders Vulcan, Wolf and Berkel of the ITW Food Equipment Group have launched new websites. The redesigned sites feature major user experience improvements and buying tools to assist in product selection. The clean, intuitive designs enable quick navigation and help guide buying decisions with educational content and tools, supporting the company’s mission of delivering innovative solutions to their customers. “Today, digital channels are the foodservice industry’s main source of information when researching products for purchase. We want to make sure our websites are providing the …
Austin, Texas — Tabulate, an all-in-one financial software, business intelligence and bookkeeping service for restaurants, has appointed Monte Beck as chief executive officer. He brings over 25 years of c-level experience to Tabulate and will lead the team as it prepares to accelerate and scale its growing business. Founded in 2014, Tabulate has built a reputation for leveling the playing field for independent bars and restaurants. The Tabulate technology was built exclusively for the needs of restaurateurs looking for financial and performance data that is accessible, affordable and useful. “The …
New York City and London — Barnes & Noble, Inc. has been successfully acquired by Elliott Advisors (UK) Limited. Elliott’s acquisition of Barnes & Noble, the largest retail bookseller in the United States, follows its June 2018 acquisition of Waterstones, the largest retail bookseller in the United Kingdom. Barnes & Noble serves 627 different communities across all 50 states, where it remains the Number 1 bookseller in the United States. Elliott seeks to build upon this strong foundation as it addresses the significant challenges facing the brick-and-mortar book retail space …
New York City — Bona Design Lab, a global retail design and consulting firm based in New York City, has been recognized by the Retail Design Institute for the store design it created for ENEX, the licensee for Shell brand fuels and lubricants in Chile and operator of service stations as well as convenience stores under the Upa! and Upita! brands. The design was one of the finalists in the “Class of 2018 Winners” named by the Retail Design Institute in its 48th annual Store of the Year competition. The …
Chicago — Potbelly Corporation, a neighborhood sandwich shop concept, has signed three new franchise agreements. Over the last 6 months, the company signed franchise agreements that, when fully built out over the coming years, will nearly double its franchise footprint with multi-unit development deals for a total of 38 units spanning Las Vegas; Tampa, Florida; and the Carolinas. In addition, Potbelly has opened a number of franchise stores this year that are driving brand penetration across several areas of the country, including recently opened shops in Irvine, Calif.; Odessa, Texas; …
New York City — Luxury department store retailer Barneys New York has voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection and has disclosed plans to close 15 of its 22 brick-and-mortar stores. The Chapter 11 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York indicated that Barneys had more than $100 million in assets and more than $100 million in debts, according to The Wall Street Journal. Barneys plans to keep five of its flagship locations open, including its famous Madison Avenue store. The retailer will also continue operating …
Calabasas Hills, Calif. — The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated has entered into definitive agreements to acquire Fox Restaurant Concepts (FRC) and the remaining interest in North Italia, reinforcing its leadership position in experiential dining. The transactions will be completed for $308 million. “Since making our initial minority investments in North Italia and Flower Child in 2016, we have not only helped fuel the growth of both brands, but also developed a deep relationship with Sam Fox at Fox Restaurant Concepts,” says David Overton, chairman and CEO of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated. …
Oceanside, Calif. — Kellermeyer Bergensons Services, LLC (KBS), a leading North American provider of technology-enabled, integrated facility management services to the industrial, commercial, logistics, retail and grocery sectors, has acquired PE Facility Solutions, LLC (“Pristine”), a provider of facility management, contract cleaning and related services. KBS is a portfolio company of San Francisco-based private investment firm GI Partners. Pristine is owned by Massachusetts-based Great Elm Capital Corp. “Pristine is an outstanding asset and its integration into the KBS platform is an important step toward advancing our expansion into targeted end …
Atlanta — Ace Hardware Corporation, the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the world, has selected Atlanta-based tech startup Deputy as its recommended people management and scheduling solution to its community of store owners and managers. “Not only does it take less time to make a schedule in Deputy, but after I’m done making it, there’s nothing else required from me until it’s time to make schedules again the next month,” says Bobby Heuser, owner of Heuser Ace Hardware in Bluffton, S.C. “Deputy enables my employees to do everything they need in …