Hospitality

Tampa, Fla. -- Outback Steakhouse is introducing Click Thru Seating. With Click Thru Seating, customers visit Outback.com from any connected device to view the current wait time at their local Outback restaurant and put their name on the waitlist for now or later.    Unlike a traditional reservation, late customers will not be dropped from the wait list or penalized. The service will also soon be available on the Outback mobile app.  

New York –- Online footwear retailer Zappos is ranked the simplest brand in the U.S. And that’s a good thing. According to the new Brand Simplicity Index ranking of U.S. brands from brand advisory firm Siegel & Gale, the top 10 list is dominated by retailers. The list includes Amazon.com at number two, Subway (#3), Pizza Hut (#4), Netflix (#5), Trader Joe’s (#6), Kroger (#7), McDonald’s (#8), Chipotle (#9) and Dunkin’ Donuts (#10).

Dallas –- Bar Louie will open its newest location at the Shops at Park Lane in Dallas. Bar Louie will occupy the 7,332-sq.-ft. former Park Tavern space and open mid-November.   UCR’s Stan Lotridge represented the tenant, BL Restaurant Operations, and UCR’s Ashley O’Malley represented the landlord, Northwood Retail.  

Beijing, China -- Alibaba Group is rebranding its Taobao Travel online travel business as an independent business and brand named “Alitrip.” Alitrip will be another marketplace platform under Alibaba Group with a new independent web domain, www.alitrip.com.   

Oak Brook, Ill. -- McDonald’s is collaborating with mobile commerce provider Softcard. Customers will now be able to tap and pay both in-restaurant and in the drive-thru lane at all U.S. McDonald’s locations, marking the largest deployment of NFC-based mobile commerce in drive-thru.  

In announcing its new mobile ordering service, Starbucks referenced a "seismic shift in consumer behavior in which many traditional brick-and-mortar retailers experienced a decline in foot traffic compared with significant growth in online shopping" during the 2013 holiday season. Indeed, consumers are increasingly comfortable with bypassing physical stores and purchasing goods online, especially when facing the prospect of holiday crowds and traffic.  

New York -- Harvard Business Review released its annual list of the 100 best-performing CEOs in the world, and heading up the list is Amazon chief Jeff Bezos.    

Construction is currently underway at Jefferson Commons, a regional shopping center in a booming area of Louisville, Ky. Developed by GBT Realty Corp., based in Brentwood, Tenn., the 230,000-sq.-ft. Jefferson Commons will feature Academy Sports + Outdoors, Five Below, Mattress Firm, Mens Wearhouse, Hancock Fabrics and Avalon Nails.