Hospitality

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin’ Brands plans to open 17 new franchise Dunkin’ Donuts stores in west and central Texas in the next several years.

Greenwood Village, Colo. — Maui Wowi Hawaiian plans to open a shop in Northwoods Mall in Peoria, Ill. Slated to open in early October, the new Maui Wowi franchise shop will continue the brand’s expansion in Illinois.

Maui Wowi currently has more than 450 operating units in seven countries.

Have you heard of Silicon Beach? No, it isn’t an offshoot of Silicon Valley. It is a phenomenon emerging in West Los Angeles, home of The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center, a mixed-use development with office, residential, hotel, retail, restaurant and entertainment offerings.

Silicon Beach has taken its name from Silicon Valley — both are notable for the number of creative business start-ups.

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin' Brands Group announced that David Starmer has joined Dunkin' Brands as VP - IT, store systems, and Paul Zaher has joined the company as VP - IT, marketing systems. Both will report directly to Jack Clare, senior VP and CIO for Dunkin' Brands.

Zaher joins Dunkin' Brands from Express, where he directed e-commerce and other marketing systems.  

Starmer joins Dunkin' Brands from Papa Murphy's International, where he directed in-store technology solutions.

Detroit – Despite the widely reported financial troubles the Detroit area is facing, four current development projects demonstrate there is demand for new retail stores and restaurants in the city.

According to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, all four projects are taking place near the Oakland Mall at the intersection of 14 Mile and John R. roads. Chicago-based Urban Retail Properties is reportedly developing Qdoba Mexican Grill and Starbucks locations off 14 Mile Road that will open later this fall.

Saratoga, Calif. — Fuddruckers is expanding its footprint in Southern California through a new franchise development partnership with Keilah LLC.

The partnership will open ten new Fuddruckers over the next several years. The first is slated to debut by early 2015.

Mokena, Ill. — Micoley.com’s Sept. 28 property auction will offer a restaurant and banquet facility in Mokena, Ill. The two-story restaurant spans 14,754 sq. ft. The site includes 162 parking spaces. Zoning allows other kinds of commercial activity.

The property has an opening bid of $995,000, substantially lower than the initial asking price of $1,795,000. Offers are expected during the lead up to the auction. Properties such as this frequently sell ahead of their auction date.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- An increasing majority of Americans (63%) report they have had a particularly unpleasant experience in a public restroom due to the condition of the facilities, according to a new survey by Bradley Corp., manufacturer of commercial restroom furnishings. That’s up from 51% one year ago, according to the company's fifth annual national Healthy Hand Washing Survey.