Foodservice

New York -- Nine owners and managers of 7-Eleven stores across Long Island (New York) and in Virginia were charged on Monday of harboring and hiring dozens of illegal immigrants and paying them using sham Social Security numbers.

Fairfield, Calif. -- A Fuddruckers franchisee has acquired a 14,500-sq.-ft. property on the ring road of Solano Mall in Fairfield, Calif., according to Transwestern, the brokerage that represented the franchisee.

A Chick-fil-A restaurant attached to the property will continue to operate without change.

New York -- Canadian burger chain Big Smoke Burger has leased its first New York City location at 70 Seventh Ave., between West 14th and West 15th Streets in Chelsea, according to Winick Realty Group who represented Group 868 Inc., the landlord in the transaction.

The 2,380-sq.-ft. property includes a 500-sq.-ft. basement and an 880-sq.-ft. outdoor courtyard.

Big Smoke Burger plans to open the restaurant within the next four months. RKF represented Big Smoke Burger.

Corpus Christie, Texas -- Susser Holdings Corporation announced that its Striples LLL brand has Sid Keswani as senior VP store operations. Keswani brings to Stripes more than 18 years of retail operations experience with Target, most recently as senior VP for the Southeast region of the United States.

Stripes announced that company veteran Richard Sebastian has taken on the role of senior VP of facilities, construction and will be responsible for the company's maintenance, new store and capital expenditure programs.   

Boulder, Col. -- QuikTrip is the nation’s most popular convenience store, according to a new study by Market Force Information. QuikTrip was voted the most popular c-store chain among the more than 7,600 study participants, followed by Wawa, RaceTrac, Speedway and Arco/ampm.

CARY, N.C. — The Pantry, an independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States, has appointed former Big Lots executive Boris Zelmanovich as the company’s SVP and CMO. 

Zelmanovich will join the Pantry’s executive leadership team Monday, June 3, and will lead merchandising. He served as VP of merchandising strategy at Big Lots, where he was responsible for the development of strategic merchandising plans and repositioning the merchandising portfolio to drive market differentiation.

SEATTLE — Starbucks subsidiary Seattle’s Best Coffee opened 10 new drive-through windows at restaurants throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Items available for drive-through purchase include 12 combo specials priced $5 or less.

CARY, N.C. — The Pantry, a leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern U.S., has appointed former Dollar General executive Kathleen Guion to its board of directors.

Santa Monica, Calif. -- Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Maxxam Enterprises said that Steak ‘n Shake is entering the California market with a new restaurant on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

The 4,300-sq.-ft. space is located near the intersection of the Promenade and Broadway, across the street from Santa Monica Place, the new upscale shopping mall in Downtown Santa Monica.

Steak ‘n Shake said it plans for a grand opening later this year, after completing tenant improvements to its space.