Fast Casual Restaurant

Tustin, Calif. -- Present Value Properties announced Tuesday that Annette Kolb has been named director of real estate for the firm.

Kolb will be responsible for the real estate needs of national chain retailers including Pizza Hut, Long John Silver and Jack in the Box franchisees located in Phoenix, Dallas and Missouri. She will handle lease extensions/renegotiations, new locations and relocations and be based in Phoenix.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Domino's Pizza is launching its brand new Android smartphone ordering app. With the launch, and in addition to its existing iPhone app which debuted last June, Domino's will now offer its mobile ordering app to more than 80% of smartphones.

The new app, which is compatible with Android version 2.1 and higher, extends many of the features of Domino's online ordering platform including: coupon search, full national menu, GPS store locator and the ability to follow orders with Domino's Tracker.

Largo, Md. -- Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust announced that Capital Centre LLC, one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, signed a lease with TD Burger LLC, operating as Timothy Dean Burger, to occupy the 2,000-sq.-ft. space at The Boulevard at the Capital Centre in Largo, Md.

The restaurant plans to open in the winter of 2012.

A shift in consumer payment habits has had a noticeable impact on merchants that process a large volume of low-value transactions. Credit cards, historically associated with payment for higher-priced items that required financing, have become a preferred payment method for routine purchases that once were covered by pocket change.

Bloomfield Hills, Mich. -- Talent management technology-provider JobApp Network said that Checkers Drive-In Restaurants is utilizing its services to up its talent quotient and reduce turnover.

According to JobApp, after less than nine months of utilizing its core talent acquisition solution, Checkers’ own internal analysis showed a 40.9% reduction in restaurant team member turnover. And, said JobApp, turnover results from the team members at JobApp restaurants were significantly better compared to Checkers’ control group restaurants.

Waban, Mass. -- Research results released Tuesday by Temkin Group, which rates the customer experience of 206 large companies across 18 industries, showed that only eight companies deliver excellent customer experience: Sam's Club and Publix led the pack, followed by Starbucks, Subway, Chick-fil-A, Aldi, Winn-Dixie, H.E.B., and credit unions.

According to the 2012 Temkin Experience Ratings, in its second year, 76 companies (37% of the total) earned "poor" or "very poor" ratings.

Atlanta -- Arby’s Restaurant Group said Friday that it has selected service provider BIAS Corp., based in Atlanta, to implement all of the needed Oracle applications and infrastructure. BIAS will serve as Arby’s long-term partner to provide EBS application managed services and support.

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin' Donuts announced the signing of a multi-unit store development agreement with a newly formed subsidiary of Sizzling Platter, LLC (Sizzling Donuts, LLC) for 11 new restaurants in Denver, and eight in El Paso, Texas.

The company also acquired two additional existing restaurants in El Paso.
 

Denver -- Chipotle Mexican Grill expects to open 155–165 new Chipotle locations in 2012.

"While this is more restaurants than we've ever opened in a single year, we are confident," said co-CEO Montgomery Moran in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. Moran cited the "quality of what's in the real estate pipeline."

 

Baltimore -- Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency Centers said that it has leased space at Festival at Woodholme, located in Baltimore, to Corner Bakery Cafe. 

The fast-casual restaurant leased 3,513 sq. ft. of space and is slated to open in summer 2012. The cafe is the newest addition to an array of new retailers, including Ann Taylor Loft, Francesca’s Collection, Wine Loft and Couture Moda, that recently joined Festival at Woodholme.