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Los Angeles — Great American Cookies, the Original Cookie Cake franchise, plans its first location in the state of Alaska. The new store will be located in Anchorage. “This year, Great American Cookies arrived in Arizona, New Mexico and Illinois,” says Allison Lauenstein, president of Great American Cookies. “Growing domestically has been a key growth pillar for us so we are pleased to be able to expand our footprint to four new states, including Alaska, in just a few months. We see Anchorage as a great market to make our …

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Atlanta — The Athlete’s Foot has named a new vice president of marketing and community engagement, Darius Billings. He has been with the company for 15 years, currently as the senior director of marketing of StAART at The Athlete’s Foot USA. Previously, Billings has had roles at Nike and AND1 Basketball, an American footwear and clothing company specializing in basketball shoes, clothing and sporting goods. In 2020, Billings was motivated by the Black Lives Matter Movement protests and economic disparities within the Black community to use his platform to do …

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Moonachie, N.J. — Paris Baguette, the bakery café concept with 4,000 units worldwide, currently has nearly 150 units open in the U.S. and is working toward reaching the 1,000 unit mark in the States by 2030. After a great end to 2022, the concept has kicked off 2023 by signing 40 franchise agreements and opening one restaurant per week in the first quarter. “We are very proud of the momentum we have. Last year we opened 24 stores. This year, we are more than halfway there in just 3 months,” …

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Philadelphia — Five Below, Inc. has named Kristy Chipman as chief financial officer and treasurer, effective July 17, 2023; she will report to Joel Anderson, president and CEO. Chipman succeeds Ken Bull, who recently assumed the role of chief operating officer of Five Below. Most recently, Chipman was executive vice president, CFO and COO at Ruth’s Chris Hospitality Group. Chipman will lead the company’s finance and accounting organization, overseeing SEC reporting and financial operations, financial planning & analysis, investor relations, internal audit, enterprise risk management, tax and treasury and serve …

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St. Louis — Interface Systems, a leading managed service provider of business security, actionable insights and purpose-built networks for multi-location businesses, has been selected by BRIX Holdings, a leading multi-brand franchising company that specializes in the “better-for-you” QSR segment, to deploy managed network, business voice, PCI compliance, business security and business intelligence solutions for all their franchise locations, including Red Mango Cafe, Smoothie Factory + Kitchen, Souper Salad, Orange Leaf, Humble Donut Co, Greenz, Friendly’s and Pizza Jukebox. Interface’s solutions enable BRIX to offer its franchisees a modern and proven …

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Chesterfield, Mo. — Keystone Construction Company has completed the next phase of development at The District of St. Louis with the Hub Stl, a $4 million state-of-the-art outdoor entertainment space where families and friends gather, host events and watch sporting events, movies, live performances and more. Located in Chesterfield, Mo., at Boones Crossing, The District is a premier St. Louis-area destination for live music, food and drink as well as unique retail concepts in one walkable location. Keystone was the design/build general contractor. The developer of The District is The …

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Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — BurgerFi International Inc., owner of leading fast-casual brand BurgerFi and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings, is making a change in senior leadership as Christopher Jones will be joining as chief financial officer on July 10, 2023. Jones is replacing the current CFO, Mike Rabinovitch, who is transitioning to Lionheart Capital as a senior advisor. Lionheart Capital along with its founder and the company’s executive chairman, Ophir Sternberg, is the company’s largest shareholder. Rabinovitch will remain in his role as CFO until July 10, 2023 and …

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Nashville, Tenn. — Captain D’s, the nation’s leading fast-casual seafood restaurant, has converted a former Dunkin’ to its newest franchised location in Marietta, Ga. (not pictured here). This is the fourth Atlanta-area Captain D’s for local owner Anil Dossani, who began franchising with the brand in 2018 and already has a fifth location on tap for Ellenwood later this summer. The Marietta opening comes on the heels of two other Captain D’s conversions this spring in Georgia, including a former Bojangles in Savannah and a Huddle House in Glennville. Dossani …

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Dallas — Dave & Buster’s has made two more significant deals for its global expansion plans. The first deal includes a 15-store partnership in India with the Malpani Group, and the second deal comprises a five-store partnership with the NightOwl Entertainment Group in Australia. These strategic alliances mark Dave & Buster’s second and third multi-store franchise agreements, firmly cementing the brand in the APAC and MEA regions with a total of 31 stores committed to development since global expansion plans were announced in 2022. Dave & Buster’s has implemented several …

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Columbus, Ga. — Tim Hortons ®, the beloved coffee and bakery restaurant founded in Canada and popular in the northern U.S., will open its first location in Georgia on June 16th. The new restaurant will be located at 6741 Veterans Pkwy. in Columbus. Additional Tim Hortons locations in Georgia are expected to open throughout 2023. “We’re ready to open our doors in Georgia and serve our new Columbus neighbors, as well as Tims fans from across the state, including Georgia-based Canadians who have been eager to have a Tims closer …

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