Fast Casual Restaurant

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin’ Donuts is recruiting franchisees in Minnesota with an emphasis on Minneapolis and Mankato. Seven freestanding Dunkin' Donuts locations are planned to open during the next several years in the greater Duluth area.

To help fuel growth in Minnesota, special development incentives are available, which include reduced royalty fees for three years and up to $10,000 in local store marketing for stores that meet certain goals.

Hingham, Mass. – Fast-casual burger chain Wahlburgers has signed a three-restaurant franchise agreement in Las Vegas with Vegas American Hospitality Inc. Wahlburgers will debut in Las Vegas in early 2015 with the opening of its first restaurant at a location soon to be disclosed.  

Aliso Viejo, Calif. – Johnny Rockets has signed a development agreement with The Daher Group, to open Bolivia's first Johnny Rockets restaurant in Santa Cruz's Ventura Mall, the largest shopping center and first modern mall in the country. Johnny Rockets will join Ventura Mall's Gastronomic Boulevard, a central location in the modern mall designed for restaurants, coffee shops and snacks.  

Chicago -- The strategic merits of Burger King Worldwide's leveraged buy-out of Tim Hortons Inc. will be tested by Monday's enactment of tightened U.S. Treasury tax rules on U.S. companies seeking to re-domicile their headquarters in countries with more favorable tax systems, according to Fitch Ratings. The new regulation is meant to reduce the attractiveness of inversions and is effective immediately.

Salt Lake City -- Mexican restaurant chain Taco John’s is partnering with InMoment, a cloud-based customer experience optimization platform that gives companies the ability to listen to and engage with customers to improve business results. InMoment is providing the technology for Tell TJ, Taco John’s guest satisfaction survey program.

Alpharetta, Ga. - McAlister's Deli has signed an agreement with existing franchise group Southern Deli Holdings LLC to open 10 additional locations throughout North and South Carolina, Colorado and Wyoming, with three locations slated to open in late 2014. In addition, the franchise group recently acquired seven existing locations in St. Louis.

The new development commitments will result in two new restaurants per year during the next five years.

Aliso Viejo, Calif. -- Johnny Rockets announced a new concept, called Johnny Rockets Route 66, which will take the form of four prototypes: drive-thru, drive-in, food truck and pop-up. The first prototypes are to debut as early as fourth quarter 2014.

The drive-thru prototype is targeted for high volume, regional travel plazas located off major freeways and highways. It will range from 1,800sq. ft. to 3,300 sq. ft. and feature an optimized menu, digital projectors and technology to enhance the guest experience.
 

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin’ Donuts is continuing its development across India with its master franchisee, Jubilant FoodWorks, where it's on track to meet its previously announced development target of 500 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in the long-term. Since signing its master franchise agreement with Jubilant FoodWorks in 2011, 36 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants have been opened in 12 cities across India, including its newest location, which opened Sept. 11 in the South Indian city of Bangalore.  

Bloomfield, Mich. — Adam Goodman, VP of Mid-America Real-Estate-Michigan, announced the following leases:

Eastpointe & Detroit, Michigan. – Gabe Schuchman and Adam Goodman of Mid-America Real Estate-Michigan signed four leases on behalf of the landlord, Curis Enterprises.  Three leases were signed at 9 Mile Road and Gratiot Avenue in Eastbrooke Commons Shopping Center in Eastpointe, Michigan.

Seattle – Starbucks Corp. is reportedly considering changing its policy that forbids visible tattoos on baristas. According to CNNMoney, more than 21,000 employees have signed an online petition asking Starbucks to allow baristas in its stores to display visible, non-offensive tattoos.