Content about Food and drink

Chicago -- Eli’s Cheesecake, which sells cheesecakes and other baked goods from a retail store in Chicago as well as an e-commerce site, uses emerging social media tools to meet traditional marketing goals. At the recent Internet Retailer conference in Chicago, Debbie Marchok, VP of marketing for Eli’s Cheesecake, reviewed how the retailer meets the four traditional marketing goals of attention, interest, desire and action with social media.

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation has entered into a letter of intent with an affiliate of Sun Holdings, LLC for the sale of three company-owned shops in Dallas, and for Sun Holdings' further development of the Dallas market. The sale of the stores is subject to conditions, including the execution of a definitive asset purchase agreement and a development agreement pursuant to which Sun Holdings would undertake the further development of new Krispy Kreme shops in Dallas.

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin’ Brands Group is giving its Dunkin’ Donuts stores a big makeover. The chain has been rolling out a “café-style” store redesign that includes a new, earth-toned palette, to make its locations resemble those of rival Starbucks, according to Bloomberg.

Dunkin’ Donuts, which plans to double its current store total to 15,000, is adding features such as more comfortable seating and music to increase its afternoon customer traffic.

Portland, Ore. -- Regency Centers Corp. has announced a $6 million redevelopment of Greenway Town Center, a 93,000-sq.-ft. neighborhood center in Tigard, Ore., a suburb of Portland. Among the center’s enhancements, Whole Foods Market will open a 37,500-sq.-ft. anchor store in 2014.

The redevelopment will include a new exterior façade with cedar wood accents, upgraded architectural components, parking lot improvements and new site lighting, landscaping and signage.

Chicago -- Ebay, Walmart and McDonalds are tops when it comes to in-store charity donations, according to a study by Cause Marketing Forum that ranked the largest consumer donations at the point-of-sale last year. More than $358 million was raised in 2012 through a total of 63 corporate-backed charity checkout campaigns identified by Cause Marketing.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s has appointed Starbucks executive Michelle Gass to the newly created position of chief customer officer. She will report directly to Kohl’s chairman, president and CEO Kevin Mansell.

Gass, who joins Kohl’s on June 17, will have leadership responsibility for Kohl’s branding across all channels. She will oversee all marketing efforts, the company’s high growth e-commerce business on Kohls.com and the customer’s total omnichannel experience.

Denver -- Fast food hamburger chain Smashburger plans to more than double its nationwide store count to about 500 in the next few years. The chain currently runs about 200 locations across the U.S.

According to public comments from Smashburger chariman and CEO Dave Prokupek, the chain may also launch a U.S. IPO at some point in the future. “The idea of good food fast isn’t going to go away anytime soon,” said Prokupek.

Aston, Pa. -- Actions Services Group has announced a service agreement with Strategic Restaurants Acquisition Co. to provide exterior sign and lighting maintenance services for its 295 Burger King restaurant units.

The two-year maintenance program covers proactive, scheduled quarterly visits to Strategic Restaurants’ units to inspect, repair and/or replace lamps, ballasts, sockets, electrodes, tube supports, wiring within the sign or light fixture LED or non-LED redband, LED or non-LED channel letters, neon transformers and secondary wiring.

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc., parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins, has named current CEO Nigel Travis, 63, as chairman of the board of directors. Board member Raul Alvarez, 57, has been appointed lead independent director of the board. These changes come as Jon Luther, 69, prepares to retire as director and chairman of the board effective May 15.

Chain Store Age asked Paul Carolan, chief development officer for Dallas-based Le Duff America, about the bakery-café company's aggressive growth plan in the United States.

The North American subsidiary of Paris-based Groupe Le Duff SA, Le Duff America now manages four brands in the United States: Bruegger's Bagels, la Madeleine Country French Café, Brioche Dorée and Mimi's Café, which was acquired in March.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market on Tuesday reported that its second-quarter net income rose to $142 million from $118 million a year earlier, beating analysts estimates. The chain also raised its full-year forecast.

Total sales in the quarter ended April 14 increased to $3.03 billion, from $2.67 billion.
Same-store sales rose 6.9%.