Fast Casual Restaurant

New York - Shake Shack has chosen Accruent’s cloud solution for its project management needs. Shake Shack will use the project management system to support its growth in the U.S.

Fort Worth, Texas – Trademark Property Co. is adding three new tenants to its Westbend shopping center in Fort Worth, Texas. Restaurant chain HG Sply Co. will open a 3,800-sq.-ft. location with a 5,000-sq.-ft. outdoor patio.

In addition, Pax & Parker will open a 1,364-sq.-ft. luxury location and Woodhouse Day Spa will open a 5,240-sq.-ft. full-service luxury day spa.

Dallas - Corner Bakery Cafe is focusing franchising efforts in the Southeastern markets of Birmingham; Charleston; Charlotte; Columbus; Jackson; New Orleans; Raleigh; and Tampa. Corner Bakery Cafe is looking for best-in-class franchise operators who have relevant multi-unit restaurant/retail experience in the market to be developed.

In targeting the Southeast region, Corner Bakery Cafe, which has more than 390 locations in development commitments, plans to strengthen its presence.
 

St. Louis – Panera Bread Co. has named Drew Madsen president, effective May 11. He will report to Ron Shaich, chairman and CEO, and oversee the core café business, while Shaich focuses on strategy, growth initiatives and innovation across the company.

Madsen served as president and COO of Darden Restaurants Inc. He also previously served as president of Darden's Olive Garden chain and was Olive Garden's executive VP of marketing prior to that.

Houston – Fuddruckers is going from “Howdy” to “Ayuh.” The casual-dining chain is opening its first location in Maine on May 11 through a partnership with franchisee B&B Burgers Inc. The 3,000-sq.-ft. restaurant in Ellsworth, Maine anchors a new Tradewinds convenience store complex.

New York – McDonald’s responds more slowly to Twitter commentary than other major fast-food hamburger chains, but tweets more often than Wendy’s or Burger King. According to social media analysis conducted by the Wall Street Journal using a tool from Unmetric, Starbucks has 7.7 million Twitter followers, almost triple the 2.8 million Twitter followers held by McDonald’s, the number two fast food chain on Twitter.

Other findings include:

Oak Brook, Ill. -- Retail Properties of America announced that it has closed on the off-market acquisition of a 38,000-sq.-ft. community center located in Tysons Corner, which is in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore corridor.

Recently renovated in 2012, the property is anchored by Golfsmith and shadow-anchored by Best Buy. It is also supported by national fast-causal restaurant offerings including Chipotle, Chick-fil-A and Roti. The property was purchased off-market for approximately $31.6 million.

Ann Arbor, Mich. - Domino's Pizza has opened in its third new market so far in 2015, as the first Domino's store in the Republic of Georgia opened the capital city of Tbilisi. Domino's Pizza in Georgia is a joint venture between Turkven, Domino's master franchisee in Turkey, and Geo Pizza LLC, led by CEO Tea Shengelia.

Chicago - Potbelly Corp. has promoted Julie Younglove-Webb as its new senior VP of operations. Younglove-Webb will oversee all aspects of company operations.

Younglove-Webb joined the Potbelly 2008, as a general manager and then a district manager before assuming various operations roles and being promoted to her latest role as Central Zone VP, overseeing 250 shops. She replaces John Morlock, who will now serve as senior VP of ops growth.

Oak Brook, Ill. - McDonald's Corp. is trying to make fast-food even more convenient for New Yorkers. The retailer is launching a delivery test with Postmates, a direct-to-consumer delivery service, in the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.

Customers can go to Postmates.com or download the Postmates mobile app to order McDonald's food for delivery within an hour. The test involves 88 select McDonald's restaurants.