Full Service

Aliso Viejo, Calif. – Johnny Rockets is now focusing its global expansion efforts on developments in Southeast Asia. The casual dining chain is seeking area developers for expansion into Thailand and Vietnam.

Johnny Rockets currently operates Southeast Asian franchise stores in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia through its 14 open restaurants and eight others in development.

Los Angeles – Fast-casual pizza chain PizzaRev is cutting into the Mexican market. PizzaRev has signed a franchise agreement with Grupo Galería to bring PizzaRev to Mexico.

The agreement calls for 20 PizzaRev restaurants to be developed throughout Mexico City and the states of Mexico, Nuevo León and Coahuila. The group is the largest Carl’s Jr. franchisee in Mexico and opened the first international store for PizzaRev parent company Buffalo Wild Wings outside of Canada.

Atlanta -- FCA Partners announced the acquisition of Parkway Pointe, a 196,664-sq.-ft. retail center located in Atlanta. The property was purchased for $43.9 million from Stockbridge Capital on June 25.  

Panama City -- Starbucks Coffee Company has entered its 15th Latin America market.

The coffee giant — together with Premium Restaurants of America, its long-term strategic licensing partner in Central America — has opened its first store in Panama, making it Starbucks 15th market in Latin America and 67th worldwide.

Carrollton, Texas -- TGI Fridays is looking for a new chief executive.

The company announced that Nick Shepherd recently informed the Fridays’ board of his decision to step down as president and CEO, citing that he believes the time is right to pass the torch to a new leader to steer the 50-year-old brand through its next chapter of growth.

Shepherd will continue to actively lead the business through mid-October, and will be working closely with Fridays chairman of the board, John Antioco.

Germantown, Tenn. - Trademark Property Co. has broken ground on the second phase of redevelopment at its Saddle Creek shopping center in Germantown, Tennessee, focusing on enhancements to the north side of the property. Combined with the initial phase, which is nearing completion, the redevelopment efforts will add approximately 25,000 sq. ft. of new retail space to the property.

Irvine, Calif. - Irvine Company Retail Properties is opening new restaurants across its Orange County portfolio in California, including Fashion Island, Irvine Spectrum Center, The Market Place, and several community centers.  

Charlotte, N.C. – Belk Inc. is expanding its presence in Alabama. The regional department store chain will open a new 237,000-sq.-ft. flagship store at The Shoppes at Bel Air in Mobile, Alabama.

Belk will be taking the place of an existing Sears, and expanding on its existing presence at The Shoppes at Bel Air. This activity is taking place following recent Reuters reports that private equity firm Sycamore Partners may be preparing to bid up to $3.5 billion for Belk.

Tampa, Fla. – The U.S. is known as a melting pot, and now a major U.S. casual dining chain wants to turn the world into a melting pot of consumers of its food. The Melting Pot Restaurants Inc. has partnered with commercial real estate advisory firm Newmark Grubb Knight Frank (NGKF) to support a long-term domestic and international expansion strategy.

Aliso Viejo, Calif. - Johnny Rockets is partnering with foodservice consulting group EMPAD to support purchasing and distribution for the brand's U.S. restaurants. As part of the relationship, EMPAD will assist Johnny Rockets with distributor pricing verification, analysis, sourcing and more to improve the supply chain process for the brand's franchise and corporate-owned restaurants.