Hospitality

Queens, N.Y. — A new retail building is reportedly planned for the site of a former adult entertainment club in the Rego Park neighborhood of Queens. According to the Queens Chronicle, a 20,000-sq.-ft. building will occupy the location once occupied by the Goldfingers nightclub, which has been shuttered since 1999.  

Seattle — Customers at Starbucks will soon be able to charge their smartphones while getting their afternoon pick-me-up. The coffee giant announced Thursday that it would begin a nationwide rollout of Duracell Powermat wireless charging stations after the success of a pilot program. The rollout will begin in the Bay Area, with plans to nationwide in 2015. Initial pilots in Europe and Asia are expected within the year.

Chicago, Ill. — Corner Bakery Café will open its first Wisconsin location later this year at The Mayfair Collection in Wauwatosa, Wis. The 4,000-sq.-ft. franchise location is near the center entrance at Burleigh Street and 114th Street.

Construction is slated to begin within the next few weeks. Neo Fourno Inc., the franchisee, plans to open 10 new cafes in Madison and Milwaukee over the next five years.

New York City — Restaurant chain Pret A Manger has leased a 2,577-sq.-ft. shop at 600 Lexington Avenue, a boutique 36-story office tower on East 52nd Street. The new location will bring the chains Manhattan locations to a total of 39.

RKF (www.rkf.com) represented Pret A Manger and the landlord, SL Green Realty Corp. in the transaction. Over the last two years, RKF has arranged a dozen new leases for the chain.

 

Scottsdale, Ariz. — P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. is the latest retailer to investigate a possible data breach.

The retailer emailed has been contacted by banks and law enforcement agencies about online reports that credit card and debit card numbers matching ones used at P.F. Chang’s locations between March and May 2o14 have appeared for sale on underground hacker websites.

Media reports indicate the U.S. Secret Service is also investigating the potential breach, although the Secret Service has not publicly commented.

 

Atlanta — Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc. announced plans to launch a major remodeling program across its nationwide network of nearly 3,400 Arby's quick-service sandwich restaurants.

The turnkey revitalization initiative includes a new building image, team member re-training program and franchisee remodel financing solution.  

San Francisco — La Boulange, the bakery-café chain owned by Starbucks, has opened its first restaurant outside its base of San Francisco, in Los Angeles. The new all-day menu offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, using local California-sourced ingredients wherever possible, as well as tap wine and beer and specialty cocktails.

Atlanta — Consumer spending in the United States grew 4.2% year-over-year in May 2014, compared to April’s 4.1% year-over-year growth. According to Spend Trend analysis from First Data Corp., spending growth was driven by May’s warm weather, which specifically spurred spending on travel and home improvement.