News

Waikīkī, Oahu, Hawaii — Royal Hawaiian Center is celebrating the reopening of Restaurant Suntory on March 27 following an extensive renovation that began in fall 2021. The enhanced restaurant presents a captivating new design, inspired by the Japanese art of minimalism as well as Honolulu’s magnificent scenery, complemented by a refreshed menu to elevate the authentic Japanese dining experience guests have enjoyed for 42 years. Most notable of the transformation is the Sushi Tokiwa, the new sushi counter that provides a luxury omakase-style indulgence. The transformation is aimed at creating …

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Livonia, Mich. — Entrepreneurial business partners Aaron Young, Chad Bush and Doug DeLozier, who collectively own and operate 49 Pet Supplies Plus stores across Alabama, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin and Texas, recently signed on to add 20 Pet Supplies Plus stores to their portfolio over the next 5 years. Operating as US Retail Holdings, DeLozier, Young and Bush will open the majority of new stores across Tennessee and Texas with store #50 opening this summer. Collectively, the group’s stores employ nearly 800 team members, including local and district managers who …

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Baltimore — Vulcan, a leading provider of commercial cooking equipment, has promoted Meghan Hurst to vice president of sales and marketing for Vulcan. Hurst has been with Vulcan for almost 8 years, having most recently served as marketing director. “Meghan’s analytical nature combined with her creative expertise and strong understanding of the foodservice industry and its customers made our choice easy when deciding to promote her to this important position,” says Chris Stern, vice president and general manager, North America Cooking. “We focus on promoting strong performers within our company …

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Newport Beach, Calif. — Mountain Mike’s Pizza, a leading California-based family-style pizza chain for more than 40 years, has opened first Woodland, Calif., location — marking the brand’s 250th location nationwide. The new 3,900-square-foot restaurant, the brand’s third in Yolo County, is owned by franchisees Gurjit Mann and Sumeet Benipal. Mann also owns and operates nine other Mountain Mike’s Pizza locations throughout Northern California. “I have been a proud Mountain Mike’s franchisee for more than 20 years, and I am excited to work with my business partner and Woodland resident …

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New York City — Foot Locker, Inc., the New York-based specialty athletic retailer, aims to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 or sooner, in alignment with climate scientists’ recommendations to transition toward a net zero state and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. This ambition marks an important milestone in the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) journey. Answering the call to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C, as well as feedback from stakeholders, the company commits to setting a science-based target in line with …

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Los Angeles — sweetgreen, the mission-driven restaurant brand serving healthy food at scale, will be opening its first “sweetlane” concept in Schaumburg, Ill., within the next year. The new pilot restaurant will feature sweetgreen’s best-in-class in-store experience with the addition of its first “sweetlane,” a drive-thru lane to increase convenience for digital customers. To utilize sweetgreen’s “sweetlane,” customers at the Schaumburg location will place orders in advance exclusively through sweetgreen’s digital platform. Sweetgreen is already a digital leader with almost 50% of total revenue in 2021 coming through orders placed …

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San Francisco — Williams-Sonoma, Inc., the world’s largest digital-first, design-led and sustainable home-furnishings retailer, has unveiled a new commitment to plant 6 million trees by 2023 in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. This new goal doubles Williams-Sonoma, Inc.’s original commitment made by the Pottery Barn brand in January 2021 of planting 3 million trees within the same timeframe. To date, Pottery Barn has planted over 1.5 million trees as part of the brand’s tree planting program with the Arbor Day Foundation, which plants one tree following the purchase of …

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Irving, Texas — Fuzzy’s Taco Shop has hired franchise veteran Nick Booras as senior vice president of franchise sales. The Texas-based restaurant group has nearly 150 franchise- and corporate-owned locations in 17 states. Most recently, Booras served as senior director of franchise development at FOCUS Brands, LLC. In his previous position, Booras was responsible for selling all seven of the FOCUS brands in the Southwest region. Prior to that his role was dedicated to one brand in the FOCUS portfolio, McAlister’s Deli, where he sold over 250 units as director …

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New York City — Over the last several weeks, ABG has been working closely with its partners to suspend all branded stores and e-commerce operations in Russia. In some cases, partner operations were suspended immediately. In other cases, due to contractual issues, the suspension of partner operations took longer to come into effect. As of March 20, 2022, ABG has successfully suspended all branded stores and e-commerce operations in Russia. In light of Russia’s unrelenting attacks on Ukraine and the escalating humanitarian crisis, ABG has made donations to the United …

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Gilbert, Ariz. — MUTTS Canine Cantina®, a fast-growing pet ‘eater’tainment brand from Texas, finalized the lease for a new franchise location in Gilbert, Ariz., marking its first location in the state. Slated to open in early 2023, the unique concept of an off-leash dog park with an outdoor bar and grill will reside within Gilbert’s SanTan Village, an open-air shopping center located 30 miles southeast of Phoenix. Ricardo Martinez of CF Group Investments and Ilse Calderon (pictured) executed the lease early this year. The two franchisees from Mexico currently boast …

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