Darden Restaurants

Vancouver, Wash. – Papa Murphy’s Holdings Inc. has appointed Jean M. Birch, Rob Weisberg and Jeffrey B. Welch as independent members of its board of directors, effective April 15, 2015. The appointments replace both Thomas H. Lee and Achi Yaffe, who have resigned from the board, as well as increase the board size by one seat.

Lowe's outlined its progress in meeting its sustainability objectives in its 2014 Social Responsibility Report.

Chicago - Top commercial construction trends for 2015 include an increase in retail and restaurant ground-up construction and a rise in shopping mall renovations, according to national general construction firm Englewood Construction.  

Chicago -- Englewood Construction’s restaurant and retail groups have recently broken ground on four projects, completed three projects and started work on one expansion project across the country.   In the Chicago area, Englewood’s restaurant group recently broke ground on an 11,265-square-foot, ground-up Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant in Oaklawn, Ill., and an expansion for the popular Purple Pig restaurant on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. 

Orlando, Fla. - Darden Restaurants Inc. has retained global executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates to assist the company with the recruitment of its next CEO. As previously announced, Clarence Otis is stepping down as chairman and CEO of Darden.  

To ensure a smooth transition, Charles A. Ledsinger Jr. has been appointed independent non-executive chairman of the board, and Mr. Otis has agreed to continue serving as CEO of Darden until the earlier of the appointment of his successor or Dec. 31, 2014.

Orlando, Fla. -- Darden Restaurants, Inc., which operates the Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse banners among others, has completed the repurchase of approximately $900 million of the previously announced $1 billion debt retirement, leaving approximately $1.6 billion of debt on its balance sheet.

Fred’s has brought Craig Barnes and Kelly Ma on board to lead the company’s new sourcing team, as part of the regional discount chain’s efforts to strengthen its overall inventory and buying management capabilities. The company tapped the pair in conjunction with its July sales results.