A roundup of interesting bits of news that came across the editor’s desk in the last month, including mergers and acquisitions, chain news, development executive happenings and international expansions.
mergers + acquisitions + more
- Britt Private Capital, LLC, acquired Juice It Up!
- MTY Food Group Inc. acquired two Canadian brands, Timothy’s World Coffee and mmmuffins from Dallas-based Le Duff America.
chain chain chain
- Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop will bring three new restaurants to northern Los Angeles County, with the first set to open in Santa Clarita his summer.
- Crave Hot Dogs and Barbeque will open a new unit in Melbourne, Fla., this summer.
- Bay Area fast-casual Curry Up Now will open locations in Atlanta and Sacramento, Calif., this year.
- Dunkin’ Donuts will open five restaurants in North Carolina and seven new restaurants in the Montgomery, Ala., market.
- Ruth’s Chris Steak House is opening a new location in Reno, Nev., inside the Silver Legacy Resort Casino.
people
- Capriotti’s named Dennis Watts vice president of real estate. Watts previously worked with McDonald’s as an area real estate manager, and most recently with Dapper Companies, a Nevada-based business working with commercial real estate.
- Captain D’s promoted Brad Reed to chief development officer from vice president of franchise operations. Reed has been with the company for more than seven years.
go big or go home
- Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza opened its first location in the Middle East at The Avenues in Kuwait City, Kuwait. It’s the first of six outlets scheduled to open this year in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
- Cleo Mediterráneo, the Mediterranean culinary concept from Chef Danny Elmalehand sbe's Disruptive Group, announced the opening of its first Middle East location at The Avenues in Kuwait City. This is the first of five Cleo restaurants to open across the Middle East, with the second outpost slated for early 2019.
- Grubhub has expanded its delivery capabilities to 34 more markets across 19 states.
- Jollibee opened its first Toronto unit. As the largest restaurant chain in the Philippines, the brand plans to capitalize on the fact that Toronto hosts the largest Filipino community in Canada.
branding and tech
- Domino’s Pizza launched 150,000 “Hotspots” that allow delivery to local places like parks, beaches and sporting venues that don’t have a traditional address. Drivers will meet customers “curbside” at selected locations to hand off orders.