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Louisville, Ky. — As KFC continues to focus on building and remodeling restaurants with the customer experience front and center, the company has opened its latest next-generation restaurant concept dubbed ‘The Crystal Bucket.’ The new 40-seat, 2,542-square-foot restaurant is located in Painted Post, N.Y., and celebrates the elegant architecture of the original building and history of the area. Inspired by nearby town Corning’s legacy as a glass manufacturer, this new KFC features a unique design fitting for a region known for innovation. The Crystal Bucket features: A modern curved design, …

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Chicago — Crate & Barrel Holdings, Inc. (CBH) has promoted three executives. Alicia Waters, who previously served as chief marketing officer, has been named executive vice president for Crate & Barrel and Crate & Kids. Sebastian Brauer, who previously served as vice president of product design and development, has been named senior vice president for product design, development and metaverse. Joan King, who previously served as senior vice president of e-commerce and international, has been named executive vice president of digital and international growth. Waters has been an innovator within …

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Auburn, Ala. — Guthrie’s, the chicken-finger only restaurant pioneer, has promoted Matthew Myers to chief operating officer while adding Mike Adams as the brand’s new director of operations. Myers has spent nearly a decade with Guthrie’s. Under his leadership, Guthrie’s has strategically expanded its presence while improving restaurant execution across its system. These actions helped drive solid top-line growth and expanded the brand’s leading market share position. With Myers, Guthrie’s has been able to generate above industry average profit margins and grow unit volumes while also further streamlining operations, which …

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Lewisville, Texas — JCPenney has appointed John Aylward as chief marketing officer (CMO), effective June 6, 2022. Aylward will help advance the company’s omnichannel strategy to deliver a modern, seamless experience across stores and digital. He will lead the marketing strategy, creative, visual merchandising and store design, and customer engagement teams. “The 120-year-old JCPenney brand is iconic. We must protect what the brand represents while evolving how it expresses who we are today,” says Marc Rosen, chief executive officer. “John will help fulfill our potential at this pivotal moment when …

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Seattle — Starbucks Corporation will make additional investments in its employees and stores for prioritized areas such as increased pay, more training and modernized collaboration, store innovation, etc. — bringing the total investments to nearly $1 billion in this fiscal year alone. This decision enables Starbucks to meet record customer demand and partner needs in an operating environment deeply impacted by COVID. On a call with investors, CEO Howard Schultz said, “What you will see is the transformation of the Starbucks customer and partner [employee] experiences. The transformation will accelerate …

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Charlotte, N.C. — Clean Juice®, the first and only national USDA-certified organic juice bar franchise and quick-service restaurant, has signed the brand’s 200th unit in less than 7 years of franchising. The brand’s 200th store was awarded to the Shango family who will open three locations in Michigan beginning with the first in Grand Blanc. This record-setting milestone was achieved after a dynamic first quarter where the brand signed 14 new stores while expanding its national footprint into its 30th and 31st states in Utah and New Hampshire, respectively. “This …

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Atlanta — For the 11th time, The Home Depot® has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy for its partnership with ENERGY STAR. Each year, the ENERGY STAR program honors a group of businesses and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through superior energy achievements. The Home Depot continues to work to decrease its environmental impact by reducing electricity consumption and boosting alternative and renewable energy capacity. Since 2010, The Home Depot has reduced electricity consumption in its U.S. …

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Toronto — Redberry Restaurants has appointed Scott Lewis as the vice president, operations – Redberry Burger King. Redberry’s unprecedented growth called for the creation of this new role to shepherd planning and operations for the 22 new Redberry-owned Burger King locations planned for this year, for a total 146 Burger King restaurant count for the company. A tenured QSR industry leader, Lewis has almost three decades of industry experience. As senior director of operations, he began his QSR journey at Yum!/Priszm Brands where he moved through various roles including overseeing …

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Salisbury, N.C. — For more than two decades, Food Lion has been committed to sustainability, and these efforts continue to earn the omnichannel retailer national recognition. For the 21st consecutive year, Food Lion has earned the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. Food Lion, an omnichannel grocery retailer, operates more than 1,100 grocery stores across its 10-state footprint throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic region. Since 2000, Food Lion reduced energy consumption by more than 853.7 million kilowatt …

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Los Angeles — The Dolly Llama, L.A.’s waffle and artisanal ice cream destination, has signed several multi-unit franchise deals totaling 25 locations planned for California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas. The brand, which first began franchising in 2020 to expand the concept to major U.S. media markets, has seen exponential franchise growth since the start of 2022. The Dolly Llama is exploding throughout the United States with several units under construction, including one in Dallas that is slated to open later this month, along with nine additional locations planned to …

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