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Albertsons® Companies Launches Digital Shopping Assistant Powered by Open AI

by Katie Lee

Boise, Idaho — Albertsons Companies, Inc. is marking a major milestone in its digital transformation journey: the launch of the Albertsons AI shopping assistant, an industry-leading web browser experience designed to make grocery shopping faster, smarter and more personalized. As the industry leans into agentic commerce, the Albertsons AI shopping assistant moves beyond search to execute complex end‑to‑end grocery tasks helping customers complete shopping, from recipe to cart, in minutes. Building on the success of the company’s Ask AI tool introduced earlier this year, the agentic shopping assistant is a …

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facilities managementfranchise developmentNewsProduct Spotlightrestaurantssoftware/technologyvendors

Taco John’s Boosts Franchisee Relations with Bikky

by Katie Lee

New York City — Bikky, a customer data platform built exclusively for multi-unit restaurants, has partnered with Taco John’s®, one of the largest QSR Mexican restaurant brands in the country. The brand started out in the mid-1960s as a small Cheyenne, Wyo., taco stand. Two local businessmen wanted to share the taco stand’s unique flavors with the world and bought the franchise rights in 1969. From there, Taco John’s restaurants began popping up in the Midwest. “We have franchisees that have been with us for 50 years and they know …

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construction and designenergy managementHVAC/RIndustry Voicesrestaurantsvendors

The Silent Upgrade

by Katie Lee

— By Marc Mascarello — How hidden air diffusers are changing commercial interiors. Walk into a beautifully designed restaurant or retail space, and your eyes are drawn to the details — the layered lighting, the textures and materials, the sense of flow and spatial balance. But when HVAC components like air vents or grilles jump into view, they can interrupt that visual harmony in an instant. Mechanical systems are essential to occupant comfort, yet they’re often considered late in the design process or treated as background elements to work around. …

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Winn-Dixie Expands Amazon Return Kiosks to 68 Additional Stores Across Florida

by Katie Lee

Jacksonville, Fla. — Winn-Dixie is expanding its popular in-store Amazon return kiosks to 68 additional locations across 23 Florida counties, giving even more customers a convenient, hassle-free way to return Amazon packages while they shop for groceries. The expansion builds on the successful pilot launch of Amazon return kiosks at 20 Winn-Dixie stores across the greater Jacksonville area, including in Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. It also reinforces Winn-Dixie’s ongoing commitment to delivering convenience and value while strengthening its collaboration with Amazon. “We’ve seen incredible enthusiasm from customers …

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facilities managementNewsvendors

SMG Launches Thanksgiving Food Drive

by Katie Lee

Red Bank, N.J. — SMG Holdings recently kicked off its annual Season of Giving campaign with a Thanksgiving Food Drive to help local families in need. Partnering with Fulfill of Monmouth & Ocean Counties, SMG is collecting meal kits to ensure that everyone in the community can enjoy a warm and plentiful holiday season. Fulfill of Monmouth & Ocean Counties is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. This initiative marks the first event for 2025 in SMG’s annual Season of Giving, a series of community outreach efforts designed to share love, gratitude …

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energy managementfacilities managementIndustry Voicesrestaurantsretailerssoftware/technologyvendors

From Reactive to Proactive

by Katie Lee

— By Etrit Demaj — Smart tech rewrites the retail maintenance playbook. Retail and restaurant operators have long accepted reactive maintenance as the cost of doing business. When equipment breaks, facility teams respond, often at high cost and with little warning. But this break-fix cycle no longer works in today’s environment of shrinking margins, energy mandates and rising customer expectations. A growing number of multi-site operators are shifting to a proactive, tech-enabled maintenance model that prevents problems, instead of waiting for them to arise. This approach turns building systems into …

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energy managementfacilities managementgreen building/LEEDmanagementNewspeopleProduct Spotlightproperty managementsoftware/technologyvendors

Planon Appoints Chief Revenue Officer for Facilities and Field Services

by Katie Lee

Nijmegen, the Netherlands — Planon, a leading global provider of smart sustainable building management software, has appointed Sylvain Lamy as chief revenue officer (CRO) for facilities and field services, joining the company’s executive management team. In this position, Lamy will lead Planon’s global commercial organization for the facilities and field services business lines, driving sales, services and partner growth worldwide. “Sylvain brings a strong track record in scaling enterprise software businesses and leading high-performing international teams,” says Peter Ankerstjerne, CEO of Planon. “His commercial acumen and customer-centric mindset will be …

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energy managementgreen building/LEEDHVAC/RIndustry VoicesProduct Spotlightsoftware/technologyvendors

The Big Chill

by Katie Lee

— By Ramez Naguib — Exploring the benefits of glycol chillers in restaurants. Glycol chillers are specialized refrigeration systems and often involve the use of antifreeze. A popular application is in beverage production, wherein the food grade chemical propylene glycol is used.i Glycol is not a refrigerant; instead, it is a fluid that is used to carry heat from one location to another in much the same way as a conventional refrigerant does. But, unlike a refrigerant, glycol does not undergo a state change (from a liquid to a gas, …

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construction and designdisaster recoveryIndustry Voicesrestaurantsroofingvendors

High Impact

by Katie Lee

— By Tom Dawson — The true cost of a roof leak. When most businesses think about the cost of a roof leak, they typically focus on the expense associated with the roofing contractor who comes out and fixes the roof. However, leading brands are beginning to look deeper — quantifying the impact of roof leaks to your organization is not just an issue for the facilities team, but is a challenge that impacts culture, operations and guest experience. For hospitality groups like Brinker International, the impact of a roof …

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facilities managementHVAC/Rkitchen equipmentNewspeoplerestaurantsvendors

Parts Town Honors 10 Technicians for Excellence in the Foodservice Equipment Industry

by Katie Lee

Addison, Ill. — Parts Town, a technology innovator and distributor of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) foodservice parts, HVAC parts and residential appliance parts, has named the 10 final recipients of its 2025 Technician Scholarship Award program at this year’s Commercial Food Equipment Service Association (CFESA) Annual Conference. CFESA is the leading trade association dedicated to advancing the commercial food equipment service industry through training, advocacy and professional development. Since the launch of the program in 2022, Parts Town has awarded more than $85,000 in scholarships, including more than $22,000 in …

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