Commercial Construction & Renovation

Wahlburgers has an aggressive plan to grow from 37 units to 300 by 2025. Plans call for exploring a fast-casual concept as part of the growth, which would include both corporate and franchised locations. Read The Boston Globe story here 

Sprouts Farmers Market has reevaluated its business model in the wake of the pandemic and will opt for smaller store footprints and a focus on healthy foods to drive future growth. Read the Winsight Grocery Business story here

Earl Enterprises, the operator of concepts including Buca di Beppo and Planet Hollywood, has agreed to acquire 45 Brio and Bravo Italian restaurants from FoodFirst Global Restaurants, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. The deal, which still …

Foot Locker started focusing less on mall stores and more on larger standalone locations two years ago, and the pandemic has spurred the retailer to speed up its plans. The off-mall stores, called “Power Stores,” have about four times the …

Dunkin‘ will reopen a handful of dining rooms in June to evaluate the situation. The vast majority of the brand’s business was already to-go before the pandemic. Dunkin’ officials said the redesigned stores are well-suited to current realities. Read the …

Hotel occupancy rates continue to edge upward, reaching 32.4% for the week ended May 16 — the highest level in nine weeks, according to STR. One group driving occupancy rates is leisure travelers heading to nearby destinations. However, CBRE Group …

Wegmans still plans to open three new stores in New York, North Carolina and Virginia this year, but noted that it would take a more cautious approach to getting the locations up and running. The grocer said it will offer …

Stores around the country will reopen with big changes to keep shoppers and employees safe, starting with information on retailers’ websites to inform customers about new rules. Shopping centers are dedicating more parking spots to curbside pickup, and employees will …

Amazon could be interested in buying all or part of the J.C. Penney chain, according to a report from Women’s Wear Daily. Read The Dallas Morning News story here

US hotel rooms under construction reached record levels of 215,000 in March and 220,000 in April while the industry suffered its worst downturn on record, STR reports. The pandemic will reverse the trend eventually, says STR’s Jan Freitag, but the …