News Briefs

Huey Magoo’s is touting its 2025 growth while looking ahead to next year.

The chicken tender chain says it sustained strong franchise development throughout the year, with nearly 200 units now signed for development nationwide. In its most recent quarter, Huey Magoo’s expanded its footprint across the south, with new restaurants opening in Tupelo, Miss., Cornelia, Jesup, and Macon, Ga., Brookline, Mo., and Jacksonville, Fla., with three additional openings planned before year end. 

The brand says its franchise sales activity continued to grow in 2025, with multi-unit agreements finalized in Ashburn, Va., Knoxville, Tenn., and Kansas City, Mo.

Huey Magoo’s is on pace to open its 100th store next year, in addition to entering two new states: Texas and Utah. The brand says it will also grow its presence in the Miami area with two new stores, and open its second location in Las Vegas.

[READ MORE: Angry Chickz plans Texas, New Mexico expansion — here's where]

"This has been an incredible year for Huey Magoo's," said Andy Howard, president and CEO of Huey Magoo's. "We brought exciting new menu additions to life, expanded into key markets and saw remarkable engagement from our guests. Most importantly, we continued strengthening our franchise-first culture. Our franchise partners are the heart of this brand, and our team is focused every day on supporting their success. With our 100th store on the horizon and new states joining the Huey Magoo's family, we are more confident than ever in the future of this brand and the people who are driving it forward.”

Founded in 2004 and based in Orlando, Huey Magoo’s currently operates across 12 states. The chain is known for its hand-crafted chicken tenders and various dipping sauces and sides.

DoorDash wants to use artificial intelligence to help customers find the perfect restaurant.

In a post on X (the social network formerly known as Twitter), DoorDash co-founder Andy Fang announced that the online delivery platform is launching Zesty, a new food discovery app, in the San Francisco Bay area and New York and collecting user feedback.

"Today, we’re excited to launch Zesty, a new food discovery app to help you find the best local places," Fang said in the post, dated Dec. 15, 2025. "Powered by AI to help you search how you want and ask questions like a concierge; and aggregating info across DoorDash, Google Maps, TikTok, etc. to curate the best suggestions from the web."

According to Digital Trends, Zesty provides an AI chatbot that lets customers use natural language prompts to search for and receive personalized recommendations of local restaurants to order food from or visit for table service. The chatbot will also provide pre-made search prompts and will track and learn from customer searches to gradually refine its personalization capabilities.

The app reportedly displays recommendations on a map of the user’s area. Users can tap recommended locations to obtain information such as hours of operation, physical address, and most popular menu items. Customers can also bookmark their personalized recommendations, as well as share them with friends.

[READ MORE: DoorDash integrates alcoholic beverage catalog into product listings]

The U.S. Zesty website simply features a large, rainbow-colored logo, a button for visitors currently living in the San Francisco Bay area and New York download the beta version onto Apple devices, and a small DoorDash logo.

Image source: Andy Fang X account.

A growing drive-thru coffee chain has added to its leadership team.

Arkansas-based 7 Brew has named Matthew Dunnigan as its new finance chief. He joins the chain from Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Burger King, Popeyes, Tim Hortons and Firehouse Subs, where he served as CFO for more than six years from 2018 to 2024. Dunnigan will report to 7 Brew CEO John Davidson.

“7 Brew has demonstrated remarkable expansion over the past several years,” said Chris Dawson, president of 7 Brew. “As that positive momentum continues, we’re excited to welcome Matt to the team to provide invaluable leadership and strategic counsel as we surge forward and bring the 7 Brew experience to many more markets around the world.”

[READ MORE: Placer.ai: Starbucks, Dunkin' visits rise in Q3]

7 Brew says Dunnigan’s appointment marks a “significant milestone” in the brand’s expansion as it continues to grow its footprint across the United States.

“After a decade evaluating and building several leading restaurant brands, 7 Brew’s growth potential and franchisee returns stand out as among the most compelling I’ve seen,” said Dunnigan. “Anchored by its authentic mission to cultivate kindness in every community it serves, 7 Brew is a truly special brand – and I couldn’t be more excited to join the team and help drive its next phase of growth.”

Founded in 2017, 7 Brew operates more than 550 locations nationwide. The chain serves espresso-based coffee, Chillers, tea, infused 7 Energy, 7 Fizz Sodas and more.

Brentwood, Tenn.-based GBT Realty has submitted plans to bring a Sprouts Farmers Market to Spring Hill, Tenn., a rapidly growing suburb 25 miles south of Nashville.

The 23,000-sq.-ft. Sprouts will serve as the anchor at GBT’s under-construction Port Royal Marketplace, which will include 16,000 sq. ft. for inline shops. The company is also developing three outparcels that it expects to populate with medical service, apparel, food and beverage, and fitness brands upon its completion in 2027.

Spring Hill is one of the fastest growing cities in Tennessee, seeing its population double from 30,000 in 2010 to some 60,000 in 2023.

The city was the site of a Saturn Corporation production facility, where the Saturn Ion and Vue vehicles were produced. In 2024, General Motors and South Korean joint-venture partner LG Solutions opened a $2.3 billion Ultium Cells battery cell manufacturing facility on the property.

Recently, GM re-opened its auto plant and hired 1,000 new employees.

GBT is a longtime partner of Sprouts. It has developed more than a dozen stores for the brand and has another 12 in its pipeline. 

The Brentwood, Tenn.-based developer has been involved with the development, construction, leasing and management of over $8 billion of real estate totaling 40 million sq. ft. in 31 states. Included is more than $5 billion of acquisitions and dispositions, along with 9 million sq. ft. of single-tenant net lease delivered since 2012.

The Kroger Co. is building upon its in-store digital advertising capability in a new category.

The grocery conglomerate, which began deploying technology from Barrows Connected Stores to let participating brands deliver animated content in the store in June 2025, is now implementing Looma video screens in wine and spirits sections of its stores.

Leveraging the Looma in-store platform, Kroger co-locates screens with merchandise, enabling liquor brands to deliver video-based storytelling, product education and personalized recommendations. The retailer is installing the screens across almost 600 stores following a successful multi-year pilot in 50 stores. 

During the pilot, Kroger was able to grow alcohol category sales, improve end cap execution, and achieved a 98% customer satisfaction rating. Featured alcohol brands saw 2-4x incremental return on ad spend, as well as gains in brand awareness and first-time customer acquisition.

“We’ve spent the last decade preparing for this moment, building what we believe is far and away the strongest in-store media platform in the market,” said Cole Johnson, founder and CEO at Looma. “We are enabling brands to tell their story directly at the point of decision.”

The content that airs on Looma’s network is produced or edited by a global network of independent filmmakers, editors, and creators who specialize in point-of-decision content.

[Read more: Kroger expands retail media network to connected TV, video]

Based in Cincinnati, The Kroger Co. operates approximately 2,800 stores under a variety of banners across the U.S., including Kroger, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith's, King Soopers, Fry's, QFC, City Market, Owen's, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker's, Gerbes, Harris Teeter, Pick 'n Save, Metro Market and Mariano's.

California has more Dutch Bros locations than any other state — more than 200 — but none in Los Angeles. Now, finally, Los Angelenos will be able to quaff iced, espresso-laced concoctions like the Cocomo and Double Torture.

Its first shop in the City of Angels opened in late November at 3726 Figueroa Street, near the University of Southern California. College locations are a fixture of the Tempe, Ariz.-based company, whose playful coffee-based (and other) drinks appeal to younger demographics.

“I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to bring Dutch Bros Coffee to Los Angeles,” said regional operator Brady Benner. “Bringing this location to the Exposition Park and the greater Los Angeles community means we will have a space to bring love and light to each person we meet every day.”

Interestingly, L.A.’s first shop is the chain’s 1,111th.