News Briefs

A new survey gives insight into consumer goals that may impact spending for the coming year.

According to a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers from Numerator, 53.4% of respondents were planning to make 2025 New Year’s resolutions (up 4.9 percentage points from 2024).

Close to three-in-10 (27%) respondents plan to make financial goals. Financial resolutions are twice as popular with Gen Z and millennial respondents compared to Gen X and boomer respondents.

More than half (52%) of respondents making financial resolutions want to save more money in general, 49% want to reduce spending in general, and 39% want to pay off loans. 

Respondents making financial resolutions were most likely to say they will reduce spending on non-essential items like apparel & electronics (37%), out-of-home dining (32%), essential goods like groceries (20%) and experiences like travel and concerts (12%).

Six-in-10 (59%) respondents making financial goals are doing so because they think inflation and rising prices will impact them in the new year, and 41% are being cautious of a possible recession. 

Other interesting findings include:

• Four-in-10 (38%) respondents making resolutions plan to make physical health goals, with cited goals including losing weight (66%), exercising more frequently (62%), improving diet / healthy eating habits (61%), and reducing substance use like tobacco & alcohol (10%).
• One-in-five respondents will make mental health resolutions in 2025 with the top goal being to reduce sources of stress in life (57%), followed by developing a consistent self-care routine (44%), and pursuing activities that bring joy and fulfillment (43%).

[READ MORE: CBRE: Five forces will shape the future of retail]

A fast-growing Michigan-based restaurant chain has made a new acquisition.

The Savvy Sliders restaurant group has acquired Florida-based, fast-casual burger chain BurgerFi. The deal includes 84 BurgerFi restaurants across 15 states that will continue to operate under the BurgerFi banner.  Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

BurgerFi joins the Savvy Sliders portfolio, which now totals 206 locations,  including 52 namesake restaurants, across Michigan and several other states. It also includes Happy’s Pizza, with 60 locations in Michigan and Ohio, and Fat Boy’s Pizza, with nine locations in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. 

In a Dec. 29 Facebook post, Savvy Sliders said BurgerFi will become its “sister brand.”

“Exciting times here at Savvy Sliders, as we have officially acquired BurgerFi, a premium QSR brand serving delicious all natural burgers, fresh fries and more,” said the company, which was founded in 2018. “We’re very excited about the acquisition of BurgerFi and adding it as a sister brand to Savvy Sliders, and are looking forward to continuing to innovate and expand on our core beliefs of offering extremely high quality, friendly service and efficiency in our restaurants.”

In September, the parent company of BurgerFi and Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza & Wings, BurgerFi International, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing listed between $50 million and $100 million in assets and between $100 million to $500 million in estimated liabilities.

Savvy Sliders operates 52 locations in Michigan, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.

Trader Joe’s continues its nationwide expansion.

The grocer, which opened 34 stores in 2024, has listed 12 locations on its website as “opening soon.” (No specific dates are given.) The openings, which are spread across seven states and Washington, D.C., include three sites in Trader Joe’s home state of California.  

The 12 stores that Trader Joe’s has marked as opening soon are listed below. The grocer is expected to announce additional planned store openings during the year. 

• Hoover, Ala.— 1771 Montgomery Hwy.;
• Northridge, Calif. — 9224 Reseda Blvd.;
• Sherman Oaks, Calif. — 14140 Riverside Dr.;
• Tarzana, Calif. —18700 Ventura Blvd.;
• Rockville, Md. — 225 N. Washington St.;
• Staten Island, N.Y. — 6400 Amboy Road;
• Berwyn, Pa. — 550 Lancaster Ave;
• Murfreesboro, Tenn. —2305 Medical Center Parkway;
• Bellingham, Wash. —  4255 Meridian St., Suite 200;
• Seattle — 8726 Greenwood Ave.;
• Washington, D.C. — 5335 Wisconsin Ave NW.; and
• Washington, D.C. — 701 Monroe St. NE.

[READ MORE: Placer.ai: Visits to Trader Joe's outpacing overall grocery category]

Trader Joe’s has more than 550 stores in 40-plus states.

A new survey reveals how shoppers feel about post-holiday savings and where they plan to find them.

The new “Holiday Green” survey of 1,006 consumers conducted on behalf of online coupon platform CouponCabin reveals that more than 77% of respondents believe that there are better deals available after the holidays. 

Furthermore, nearly 51% of respondents plan to take advantage of these deals by making a large purchase immediately following the holidays in January. Respondents were most likely to say big box stores have good post-holiday deals (71%), followed by department stores (49%), online-only stores (48%), outlet stores (18%) and furniture stores (7%). 

When it comes to post-holiday purchases, most respondents spend between $100 and $499, with just over 50% planning to use holiday gift cards and money right after the holidays. 

Regionally, respondents in the Midwest are most likely to engage in high-ticket post-holiday spending, indicating they spend $5,000 or more. However, 53% of Midwest respondents said they are most likely to save holiday gift cards and money rather than spend it on post-holiday purchases, followed by those in the Southwest (48%) and Northeast (43%).

Holiday returns

Nearly 60% of respondents have exchanged a holiday gift to buy themselves something else. On average, these respondents exchange more than 20% of their received gifts. 

The most-returned holiday product categories, measured by the percentage of respondents who have returned a holiday gift that made a return in that category, are:

• Clothing (82%)
• Electronics (19%)
• Beauty (16%)
• Jewelry (13%)

[READ MORE: Here’s how consumers use AI for online shopping]

New year, new laws. As 2025 gets underway, the change of the calendar is ushering in regulations affecting grocers and consumers in various parts of the United States.

Below is a recap of some updates and mandates set to roll out on Jan. 1:

•In Michigan, retailers must sell eggs sourced from producers who follow cage-free production practices. The law applies to farms with more than 3,000 egg-laying hens and does not apply to liquid eggs or cooked eggs. 

The state requires that business owners, including grocers, obtain written confirmation from suppliers that their eggs come from a cage-free environment.

•Similar legislation is going into effect in Colorado, as producers in that state with more than 3,000 hens are required to move their birds to cage-free housing by Jan. 1. Mandates on cage-free production – typically costlier than previous practices –comes at a time when egg prices are already elevated due to episodic avian flu outbreaks.

•In California, food retailers must offer compostable bags for produce items. Plastic bags for pre-checkout use will not be allowed.

•Grocery taxes are being rolled back in Kansas after the New Year. Shoppers there will not pay state sales tax on groceries in 2025, although city- and county-levied taxes are still on the books. Illinois passed a similar law, but that won’t go into effect for another year, on Jan. 1, 2026.

This article contains highlights of an article that originally appeared on Chain Store Age sister publication Progressive Grocer. 

Yesway continues to grow its brick-and-mortar footprint.

The fast-growing convenience store chain has opened five new stores under its Allsup’s banner in Texas and New Mexico, giving it a total of 440 locations across nine states. The new Allsup’s stores in Texas are located in Mount Vernon, Lubbock and Keene, while the sites in New Mexico are located in Las Cruces and Farmington. 

The five new stores, each spanning 6,277 sq. ft., operate 24 hours a day. They offer a variety of products, including Allsup's signature burritos. Most locations also feature a beer cave, Western Union services, ATMs, and cryptocurrency and digital currency ATMs.

[READ MORE: Yesway continues rapid store expansion] 

"We could not have achieved this swift pace of growth in 2024 without the relentless efforts and exceptional dedication of our talented teams,” said Thomas Brown, chief real estate officer at Yesway. "Their hard work and commitment have been instrumental in reaching this milestone.”

Established in 2015 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Yesway operates 440 stores across Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Operating primarily under the Yesway and Allsup's store banners, the company offer high-quality grocery items and private label products.