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Hungry Howie’s Selects Restaurant365 as Back-Office Operations Platform

by Katie Lee

Irvine, Calif. — Restaurant365, a leading AI-powered restaurant management platform, has partnered with Hungry Howie’s Pizza, which has selected Restaurant365 as its back-office operations platform across all franchise locations. The partnership will standardize inventory management, scheduling, labor management and operational reporting across the Hungry Howie’s system, while all new franchisees entering the brand will also adopt Restaurant365’s accounting platform. By consolidating critical back-office functions into a single platform, Hungry Howie’s franchisees will gain real-time visibility into food costs, labor performance and store-level profitability while reducing manual processes and administrative complexity. …

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Chicago Faucets Launches Multi-Feed Soap Dispensing System for High-Traffic Restrooms

by Katie Lee

Des Plaines, Ill. — Chicago Faucets introduces the E-Tronic® 80 SoapBank™, a Multi-Feed Soap Dispensing System. The centralized bulk soap delivery solution is designed for high-traffic commercial and institutional restrooms. Engineered for applications including airports, retail, stadiums, education campuses and public venues, the system helps architects, plumbing engineers, designers and facility owners simplify maintenance while supporting cohesive touchless design. Unlike individual cartridge-based dispensers that require frequent replacement and ongoing maintenance, the E-Tronic® 80 system uses a centralized bulk soap reservoir capable of supplying multiple dispensers from a single refill point. …

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exterior services/landscapingfacilities managementIndustry Voicespest controlrestaurantsvendors

Ratting Out the Problem

by Katie Lee

— By Ken Huening — How to mitigate the risks rodents pose to the foodservice and restaurant industries. Rodents have been a problem for the food industry since the first food cart operator started hawking meat pies in the Middle Ages. But the problem has exploded in scope in recent years. According to a recent study published in the journal Science, 69% of cities studied, including Washington, D.C., San Francisco, New York City, Oakland, Buffalo, Chicago, Boston, Kansas City and Cincinnati, had significant increases in rat populations in the period …

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construction and designfacilities managementfranchise developmentNewspeoplerestaurants

Sweetgreen Names New Chief Development Officer

by Katie Lee

Los Angeles — Sweetgreen, Inc. has appointed Ryan Slemons as its new chief development officer, effective May 4, 2026. He now leads all aspects of real estate, design, construction, facilities and portfolio management, and he reports directly to Jonathan Neman, co-founder and CEO. Slemons brings nearly two decades of experience in real estate, franchising and store development across various industries. Most recently, he served as chief development officer of Unleashed Brands, a portfolio of franchise brands including Urban Air Adventure Park, The Little Gym, Sylvan Learning Centers and more. “Ryan …

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Prefix Secures $7.5 Million to Scale its FM Solution for Retail and Restaurant Operators

by Katie Lee

New York City — Prefix, a facility management platform for multi-site restaurant and retail operators, has raised a $7.5 million seed round. The funding was co-led by Collide Capital and Slow Ventures, with participation from Connexa Capital, Kyle Archer of Elevated Inc, and existing investors I2BF, and Bienville Capital. Prefix will use the capital to continue development of its AI infrastructure, boost sales and marketing efforts, and drive scalability to service more than 10,000 locations across the United States. Multi-location retail and restaurant brands spend an estimated $500 billion annually …

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MINISO USA Partners with NEST to Streamline Facilities Management Across U.S. Stores

by Katie Lee

Philadelphia — NEST, a national provider of integrated facilities management (IFM) solutions, has partnered with MINISO USA to serve as its facilities management partner for more than 300 MINISO stores across the United States. NEST will deliver a full-service IFM solution designed to streamline operations, reduce complexity and support store performance as the MINISO brand continues to expand in the U.S. NEST will manage a broad range of services, including HVAC, electrical, plumbing, lighting and general maintenance across MINISO stores. The partnership includes vendor management, service coordination, analytics and operational …

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construction and designCover Storyfacilities managementfranchise developmentFrom The Magazinekitchen equipmentremodelsrestaurantssoftware/technology

A Scalable Refresh

by Katie Lee

— By Katie Lee — 2026 marks the full rollout of Gong cha 2.0, a comprehensive modernization of technology, operations and store design for the bubble tea leader. Gong cha is the world’s leading bubble tea brand with nearly 2,200 locations in 33 markets globally, including more than 240 stores in the U.S. across 23 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. But it still has plenty of room to grow — both in number of locations and in brand recognition — in the United States. With a solid foundation undergirding …

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Toast Launches Unified Drive-Thru Solution to Modernize Enterprise QSR Operations

by Katie Lee

Boston — Toast, a digital technology platform built for hospitality, has launched Toast Drive-Thru, an enterprise-grade solution designed to help modern quick-service restaurants (QSR) increase throughput and order accuracy at scale while optimizing labor efficiency through a single, unified platform. There are just over 140,000 total drive-thru locations across the entire U.S. restaurant industry, according to 2026 data from Technomic Ignite. These operators must deliver fast, error-free guest service while facing increased pressure on labor efficiency. The growth of AI voice ordering solutions in drive-thru has left many brands struggling …

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Fresh Perspective

by Katie Lee

— By Rich Kilgannon — How retail and restaurant facility managers are leveraging tech-enabled painting partners to streamline projects and level up customer service. First impressions matter for restaurants and retail businesses. For restaurants, we know that customers eat with their eyes first. Before they ever see a plate of food, they will see the exterior of your building as they enter the restaurant. They will notice the entryway before speaking with the hostess. And they will take in the general atmosphere before they are ever seated. The same is …

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Loman AI and SpotOn Team Up to Bring Voice AI to SpotOn POS Restaurants

by Katie Lee

Austin, Texas — Loman AI, an industry-leading Voice AI phone answering platform for restaurants, has formed a new partnership with SpotOn, a leading restaurant technology company, that enables restaurants using SpotOn POS to deploy AI-powered phone automation across their operations. This integration transforms the phone from a chronic operational bottleneck into a scalable, always-on revenue channel for SpotOn users. Through this partnership, restaurants using SpotOn can now leverage Loman’s AI voice agent to automate inbound phone calls 24/7/365. Loman answers calls instantly, takes orders, books reservations, handles payment securely, answers …

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