Restaurant

Toronto -- Target Canada Co. and Starbucks Coffee Canada announced Wednesday an agreement that will put Starbucks licensed stores inside most of the 125 to 135 stores that Target plans to open in the region.

"Our goal is to bring the true Target brand shopping experience to our Canadian guests, so expanding our relationship with Starbucks as we enter the Canadian marketplace is a natural fit," said John Morioka, senior VP merchandising, Target Canada. There are currently 1,097 Starbucks locations within Target stores in the United States.

TORONTO — Canadians who need an extra jolt to get through shopping at Target will get some help via Starbucks. Target Canada and Starbucks Coffee Canada have agreed to open Starbucks licensed stores inside most of the 125 to 135 stores that Target plans to open in the region.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway is launching a first-of-its kind competition that could land one chef with a job with the Safeway Culinary Kitchens and his or recipe included in the Open Nature Skillet Meal line. The competition will culminate in a final cook-off at the Safeway Culinary Kitchens in Pleasanton, Calif., where chefs will cook their original, delicious and nutritious skillet meals.

Chicago -- General Growth Properties and Italian restaurant chain Buca di Beppo announced Tuesday the scheduled opening of 10 Buca di Beppo restaurants set to open at various properties within the GGP mall portfolio during late summer 2012.

The multi-restaurant deal marks a significant expansion of the Buca di Beppo restaurant group. New mall locations include Governor’s Square Mall in Tallahassee, Fla., August (Ga.) Mall, Oakwood Center in New Orleans and Town East Mall in Dallas.

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.

A lineup of five new retailers will be opening at Westchester’s Ridge Hill in early spring, according to the New York City-area project’s developer Forest City Ratner Cos.

Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, White House | Black Market, The Limited and Vera Bradley will open around the same time as Lord & Taylor, slated to debut in mid-April.

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.