These up-and-coming food-and-beverage chains are adding units across the U.S. 

• Eggs Up Grill finds room to grow in North Carolina
• Pizza Ranch adds a franchisee in Minnesota
• IHOP’s fast-casual pancake chain Flip’d by Ihop is growing again
• Mooby’s is a pop-up fast-food experience inspired by cult filmmaker Kevin Smith
• Stand-Up Burgers is a new plant-based hamburger concept from the founders of Veggie Grill
• Fajita Pete’s is adding five restaurants in Austin, Texas
• Bubbakoo’s Burritos is opening its second Ohio unit
• Las Vegas-based, gluten-free, fast-food chain PowerSoul Cafe wants 159 units
• Drive-thru coffee chain Dutch Bros Coffee added 72 units during the pandemic
• Petro’s Chili & Chips opened its third unit in North Carolina
• Huey McGoo’s Chicken Fingers is opening 20 units in the Columbus and Dayton, Ohio, markets
• St. Louis-based SugarFire BBQ is opening its first East Coast location, in Jacksonville, Florida
• TV Network star Guy Fieri’s Chicken Guy chain is opening a unit in Winter Park, Florida
• Freddie’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers recently opened its 400th unit
• Wichita, Kansas-based franchise Chick N Max wants to have 20 restaurants across Colorado within the next five years
• Arkansas-based Slim Chickens is Colorado bound, as well
• Plans are afoot to revive iconic fish-and-chips restaurant Arthur Treacher’s
• Portland, Oregon-based Killer Burger is opening its first Idaho unit
• Drive-thru specialty coffee chain The Human Bean opened its third location, in Columbia, S.C.
• Plant-based and dairy-free fast-food concept Stalk & Spade expects to grow to hundreds of units after launching in Minnesota
• San Diego-based Plant Power Fast Food just received $7.5 million in venture capital to expand beyond its existing seven units with new restaurants in Las Vegas and in Sacramento and Hollywood, California.

Adult day care that re-creates town settings inside is looking for franchisees

An adult day care concept called Town Square is hoping to expand via franchising. It’s tailored toward senior citizens, including those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Town Square features an interactive, midcentury “town” with 13 distinctive storefronts and experiences, including a 1950s-era diner, a movie theater, a library, a game room, a garage with a vintage car and a garden center, all arranged around a green central park that evokes a time when its senior visitors were young adults.

Town Center uses a reminiscence therapy to stimulate long-term memories and has been shown to reduce anxiety and lessen symptoms and side effects of dementia, according to Town Square Franchising vice president of operations Pete Spillum. Staff receive training on compassionate senior care methods.

The inaugural, 11,000-square-foot location opened in October 2019 in a former freestanding drugstore in Perry Hall, Maryland. Future Town Squares will be modeled after that location, operating on a membership model and accommodating approximately 100 members per day for half or full days.

More chances to pamper your favorite child

Big-box backfill successes

A good location is always in demand.  In Olathe, Kansas, Block & Co. recently negotiated a long-term net lease with Dick’s Sporting Goods’ new off-price concept Going, Going, Gone for a 48,000-square-foot former Best Buy. It’s surrounded by 1.5 million square feet of national retailers and restaurants, including The Home Depot, Target, Whole Foods, Bed Bath & Beyond and AMC.

California’s Sherman Oaks Galleria has secured an 87,046-square-foot lease with Regal to occupy the mall’s former ArcLight Cinemas, which closed in April. The Regal theater is scheduled to open soon, and a full remodel will follow. It eventually will include an IMAX auditorium, a 4DX one and a ScreenX panorama one. It also will include a VIP section with upgraded auditoriums featuring luxury recliners, reserved seating an enhanced menu and a lounge.

And At Home has leased the 96,446-square-foot, former JCPenney at Heritage Partners’ Woodmore Towne Centre in Glenarden, Maryland. It will open this summer.

Are department stores rebounding?

The department store sector faces its fair share of challenges, but the overarching narrative of doom the media creates for the sector seems to miss out on the lingering strength and potential of leading players, according to Ethan Chernofsky, vice president of marketing for foot traffic-measuring firm Placer.ai. In May, visits to Kohl’s were down just 8.3% from May 2019, and visits to Dillard’s were down just 3.5%, he said. Even Macy’s and Nordstrom, often associated with the negative feeling around the department store sector, saw visit gaps improve dramatically. Macy’s visits were down just 16.8% and Nordstrom 14.3%. These marked the strongest months by far for the two brands since the onset of the pandemic’s retail impact, he wrote in a blog post.

An upswing in downtown foot traffic is good news for retailers

Downtown pedestrian activity is ramping up faster than expected as workers return to offices and consumers venture farther from home. That’s according to consumer data firm Springboard’s Downtown Index. In January, downtown pedestrian traffic was down 63% from January 2019. By May, that gap had narrowed to 54.5%. Traffic continued to strength in the first two weeks of June, reducing the gap to 50.2%. There has been a clear upward trend in activity on a weekly basis since the beginning of 2021, according to Springboard.

Saks and e-commerce separating into distinct companies

HBC is spinning Saks Fifth Avenue’s e-commerce business into a standalone entity to be known as Saks. Insight Partners has made a $500 million minority equity investment in Saks, valuing the business at $2 billion. The retailer’s 40-store fleet will operate separately as an entity referred to as SFA, which remains wholly owned by HBC.

Saks’ expanding online presence will drive brand awareness while the physical locations will continue to serve as an important customer touchpoint, according to HBC executive chairman Richard Baker. The online operation will lead marketing and merchandising across both businesses, while the stores will fulfill the physical functions of Saks, such as buy-online-pick-up-in-store, exchanges, returns and alterations.

As separate but related companies, Saks and SFA will better be able to plan for and invest in their respective service models, he said. Saks and SFA will work in conjunction to continue delivering a seamless customer experience, he said.