Convenience Stores

Trevose, Pa. - Rita's Italian Ice, has appointed Eric Taylor, a 15-plus-year franchise industry veteran, as senior VP and chief development officer to lead the company’s franchise development and growth. Taylor joined Rita’s in April, and is responsible for the expansion of the Rita's global footprint.

Canton, Mass. - Dunkin' Donuts has signed a multi-unit store development agreement with new franchisees Wendover Donuts LLC to develop five restaurants in North and South Greensboro, North Carolina. The locations will incorporate traditional and combination unit development with sister brand, Baskin-Robbins, with the first store planned to open in 2015.

New York -- Crumbs Bake Shops on Monday closed its 48 stores. The cupcake store chain has been struggling for some time. In a May filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it warned that it "may be forced to curtail or cease its activities" if its operations didn't generate enough cash flow.

Last week, Nasdaq suspended the trading of Crumbs shares on the grounds that the company no longer had at least $2.5 million in shareholder equity, or met benchmarks for an annual net profit.

Rockland, Mass. – Tedeschi Food Shops is promoting Greg Donoghue to COO. Donoghue succeeds Robert Tedeschi Jr., who retired in June after nearly 39 years of service. In his role, Greg will oversee all operations and facilitates collaboration and project management oversight for all departmental interaction with stores.

Salt Lake City - The Howard Hughes Corporation (HHC) and Smith’s Food & Drug are planning a 78,000-sq.-ft.food and drug store in Holladay, Utah. The 57-acre mixed-use Cottonwood development, located eight miles from downtown Salt Lake Cit, will feature upscale shopping, dining, entertainment and offices in a “Town Square” style setting as well as multi-family residences when complete.

Having passed the calendar’s mid-point, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the most viewed stories of the year to date on Chainstoreage.com.

New York -- The heat is on — in more ways than one. While Target’s search for a new chief executive has been much in the news, the discounter is not the only big retailer on the hunt for a chief executive. Here’s a brief review (all dates are 2014 except where noted):

Newport News, Va. - Marketplace at Tech Center, a mixed-use lifestyle center Newport News, Va., will be the site of several stores and restaurants that cannot currently be found elsewhere on the Virginia Peninsula. These “first-to-market” retailers (with the exception of those that have outlet stores in Williamsburg) that have inked deals include:

• Whole Foods: 35,000-sq.-ft. of retail space
• DSW Shoe Warehouse: 18,062-sq.-ft. of retail space
• BJ’s Brewhouse: 7,400-sq.-ft. of retail space

By Keith Carpentier, senior business development manager, Tensator
 

Oakville, Canada – The omnichannel Tim Hortons Duelling Donuts contest kicks off July 7 and at the end of seven weeks, the creator of the next Tim Hortons menu item will be crowned — and they'll win $10,000. New this year, eight finalists will have the opportunity to defend their donut ideas in person to a panel of famous Canadians — Jason Priestley, Jann Arden, Anna Olson and Ben Mulroney.