In Other Business News

Supermarket, Grocery, & C-Store

• Associated Food Stores Inc. recently named Todd Jensen VP of Fresh Foods.

• Big Y Foods Inc. announced Nicole D’Amour Schneider has been promoted to Senior VP of Retail Operations and Customer Experience.

• Buc-ee’s Ltd. reported it plans to open its first store location in Arizona.

• Coborn’s Inc. announced Emily Coborn Wright has been promoted to Senior VP of Growth Initiatives. Nathan Tykwinski was promoted to VP of New Store Development. Chad Ellis has been promoted to Senior Director of Pharmacy, Fuel, and Franchise Development. Christie Schulte has been named VP of Legal.

• Northeast Grocery, Inc. has promoted John Persons to serve as CEO. Current CEO Frank Curci is retiring from the company.

• Wakefern Food Corp. announced the appointment of Darren Caudill as its new Chief Sales Officer.

• Whole Foods Market Inc. recently opened a new 43,400 sq. ft. store in South Windsor, CT.

• WinCo Foods LLC reported it plans to open a new 85,600 sq. ft. location in Goodyear, AZ, in late 2024.

Retail

• Academy Sports & Outdoors has appointed Robert Howell to the role of Senior VP and Chief Supply Chain Officer.

• Amazon.com Inc. reported it is promoting John Felton to a new role of Senior VP and CFO of its Amazon Web Services.

• BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. is opening a new location in Johnson City, NY, this month.

• Casper Sleep Inc. has named Joe Megibow as CEO. He succeeds Emilie Arel, who has left the company.

• Designer Brands Inc. announced that Andrea O’Donnell has been named to the role of Brands President and Exec VP.

• Do it Best Corp. announced Rich Lynch has retired from his role as VP of Marketing.

• Kirkland’s Inc. has promoted Amy Sullivan to CEO, effective Feb. 5.

• Macy’s Inc. reported it will close five Macy’s stores and cut approximately 2,350 jobs, or about 3.5% of its corporate workforce.

• Rocky’s Ace Hardware announced it plans to acquire Smith Hardware & Lumber in Rockport, MA, and Hometown Ace Hardware in Gloucester, MA.

• Target Corporation has named Michael Fiddelke its COO effective February 4. The retailer also announced the upcoming retirement of Don Liu. Rick Gomez was named Chief Food, Essentials & Beauty Officer.

• Tilly’s Co. announced that Ed Thomas has retired as President, CEO. Hezy Shaked has been appointed to serve as Interim President and CEO until a successor is appointed.

• Wayfair LLC has laid off approximately 1,650 employees, roughly 13% of its global workforce.

• W.E. Aubuchon Co. Inc. announced it has acquired Brunswick Ace Hardware in Brunswick, MD.

Restaurant

• Chipotle will be hiring 19,000 new employees over the next few months. The company will also be adding a retirement match program for employees who make eligible student loan payments.

• In-N-Out Burger will be permanently closing their Oakland location due to excessive crime in the area. It is the first time the company has had to permanently shutter a restaurant due to nearby criminal activity.

• Jersey Mike’s Subs will be using a voice AI ordering system that will handle all customer calls.

• Swig has named Angela Kavanaugh as Director of People and Culture.

• Wendy’s has named Kirk Tanner as President and CEO; he has also been elected to serve on the board of directors.