Philadelphia — Pep Boys has purchased privately held Just Brakes (JBRE, LLC), an automotive repair and maintenance chain, increasing the number of Pep Boys auto service locations to over 900 locations.
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Dallas — Pollo Campero, the world’s largest Latin chicken restaurant brand, is expanding in Texas with the opening of three new restaurants in Houston. The first opened this week. Two others are slated to open in first quarter 2017 and will bring the total number of Pollo Campero restaurants in the Bayou City to eight.
San Francisco — Build Group Inc., one of the largest and fastest growing general contracting firms in the San Francisco Bay Area, has purchased the assets of San Jose Construction Co., Inc., and assumed responsibility for completing certain current and all future San Jose Construction projects. Build Group, Inc. has also integrated all of SJC’s employees into its organization.
Atlanta — Church’s Chicken® has signed a new franchising deal with Florida Chicken LLC, which has secured the rights to open 10 new restaurants in Florida. New markets slated for development include multiple restaurants in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando, with another 10-restaurant deal expected to follow in 2021.
Columbus, Ohio — Limited Stores, LLC, parent company of women’s fashion apparel retailer The Limited, has filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The retailer began closing all 250 of its stores earlier this month.
Atlanta — Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a leading fast-casual cafe concept, signed franchise agreements to develop more than 160 new cafes across the U.S. in 2016 and closed out the year with 86 new restaurant openings, expanding the brand’s presence in cities nationwide including Charleston, S.C.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Dallas and Houston.
Irving, Texas — NEC Corporation of America (NEC), a leading provider and integrator of advanced IT, communications, networking, retail and biometric solutions, will be the new exclusive point-of-sale (POS) provider to 8,600 7-Eleven® stores throughout the United States and Canada.
Hollywood, Calif. — Wahlburgers, the better burger restaurant brand founded by Chef Paul Wahlberg and celebrity brothers Mark and Donnie, will expand to Asia in 2017 through a joint venture with Cachet Hospitality Group (CHG). The first three restaurants are slated to open in Hangzhou, Wuhan and Shanghai, China. The objective is to open 100 restaurants in China and the surrounding region over the next 5 years.