Hospitality

Canton, Mass. — Dunkin’ Donuts has filed for permits to open its first traditional restaurants in California. The new restaurants are planned for Downey, Long Beach, Modesto, Santa Monica and Whittier.

New York — Wal-Mart Stores found itself at the center of two national news stories this past weekend, both of which involved fatalities.

 On Saturday, June 7, a truck driver for Walmart was charged in the highway crash that left comedian Tracy Morgan critically injured and killed one of Morgan’s associates, comedian James McNair.

Virginia Beach, Va. — Free People has signed a lease for 3,200 sq. ft. at the Town Center of Virginia Beach. The retailer plans to open its doors in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Philadelphia — Urban Outfitters has opened a “lifestyle center” store,  in Manhattan’s Herald Square neighborhood. The 57,000-sq.ft. store is the brand’s largest location to date, and its13th store in New York City. It includes such extras as a hair salon, bookshop, coffee bar and photography shop that lets shoppers print their photos from Instagram.

Franklin, Tenn. — Overall, mobile technology has created a roughly $8 billion industry in retail/hospitality worldwide, with POS a major factor. According to a new study from IHL Research, “Mobile POS: Reaching Escape Velocity – All Systems Go,” tablet POS systems are growing at a more than 300% rate in specialty retailers compared to 2013 levels.

St. Louis — The Panera Bread Company board of directors has approved a new three-year share repurchase program of up to $600 million. This new program will replace an existing program which was scheduled to expire on Aug. 23, 2015 and has been terminated by the board of directors in connection with approving the new program.

The repurchases will be effected from time to time. The share repurchase program and the board's authorization of the program may be modified, suspended, or discontinued at any time.

New York -- Mars International Travel Retail (MITR) has opened the first M&M's store in France, in Terminal 2A at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Las Vegas -- The Hershey Company has opened a retail flagship, Hershey’s Chocolate World at New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The store, which occupies two floors and has an eye-catching 74-ft. high Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar that visitors can walk through, is designed to provide shoppers with an experiential concept that immerses them in more than 800 candy and chocolate offerings.