Missing Pizza Expo to Focus on Operations and Growth

𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 | 𝐓𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥’𝐬 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟕,𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐭𝐨 𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 🔔 Taco Bell has set an ambitious goal aiming for 𝟏𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚, signaling continued momentum across the quick service restaurant industry. 🌎 Expansion is expected across high growth markets including 𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬, 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚, 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐚, 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚, 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐚, 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨, and throughout the 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 as the brand continues to scale its footprint. So how does Taco Bell “𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑴𝒂́𝒔” when it comes to growth? A few key industry drivers are fueling the brand’s expansion: 🌮 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 With more than 90 percent of Taco Bell restaurants franchised, large multi-unit operators are committing to long term development agreements that add dozens of locations across multiple states. 🏗️ 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 New formats like smaller drive thru focused stores, urban walk-up locations, and innovative concepts such as Taco Bell Defy allow the brand to enter tighter sites and expand into dense markets. 📱🚗 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 As digital ordering and drive thru continue to dominate sales, many new locations are designed for speed and efficiency with smaller footprints and high-volume drive thru capacity. As Taco Bell continues its expansion journey across North America, APD Engineering & Architecture, PLLC is proud to support the brand’s continued growth. We look forward to helping bring these locations to life and supporting franchise partners with the architecture and engineering services needed to move projects forward smoothly. #ExpansionThursday #TacoBell #LiveMas #EngineeringMeetsExperience #ArchitectureMeetsCulture #BringingYourDesignToLife #NationalFirm #LicensedInAll50States

We spoke with multi-unit PayMore® Stores franchisees Stephen Wirthlin and Michael Moss, CFA, who have committed to developing 40 locations across the Southeast and beyond. At PayMore’s Third Annual Franchisee Summit in Nashville, they shared what it’s been like growing from their first store to six open locations, with three more leases signed, bringing them to nine stores next month. Why they continue to expand with PayMore: • Straightforward, efficient operations • Lean staffing compared to food brands • A responsive corporate team • Strong demand in every market they enter Nate Amacher Dan Rowe Stephen R. Preuss Sr. Erik Helgesen

Garage Beer is stacking its C-suite with heavy hitters from BeatBox and Molson Coors as growth accelerates. 🍺📈 The Jason and Travis Kelce-backed independent brewer has named former BeatBox SVP of finance Patrick Brang as CFO and longtime Molson Coors executive Andrew McGuire as CRO. The hires follow a string of leadership additions and come as Garage reported 200%+ dollar sales growth in NIQ-tracked channels over the past 52 weeks, alongside a 100,000-barrel volume increase last year. Brang exits BeatBox weeks after its $490 million sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev, while McGuire departs Molson Coors after nearly two decades leading U.S. sales and distributor strategy. With its executive team now “complete,” Garage appears poised for its next phase — but what comes next as growth begins to normalize? Link to the full story in the first comment below 👇 #BeerIndustry #CraftBeer #BeverageAlcohol #Leadership #CPG #MolsonCoors #BeatBox #Growth

If anyone is in the market for a credible advertising agency - but not a global marketing conglomerate, Hawke Media in Santa Monica is exceptional. I've known Peter Evans for 20 years and he puts his all into anything he does and cares about people.

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗤𝗦𝗥 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱. Weekly, I break down what that means for your stores. E͟v͟e͟r͟y͟ ͟w͟e͟e͟k͟:͟ • store closures • leadership changes • capital moves • expansion signals I͟ ͟t͟r͟a͟n͟s͟l͟a͟t͟e͟ ͟t͟h͟a͟t͟ ͟i͟n͟t͟o͟:͟ 👉 where traffic is shifting 👉 where risk is building 👉 where operators can actually win T͟h͟i͟s͟ ͟w͟e͟e͟k͟ ͟a͟l͟o͟n͟e͟:͟ • Wendy's closing 500+ units → traffic redistribution opportunity • Full-service closures rising → demand shifting to QSR • Restaurant Brands International refranchising → acquisition window opening • Pizza Hut exploring a sale → franchise risk + restructuring What are you waiting on? 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆.

From our partners at United States Beverage. For founders, growth is never just about landing the next market—it is about having the right infrastructure in place to support that growth. Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, founded by legendary rocker and entrepreneur Sammy Hagar, is continuing its expansion with new distributor partnerships in New York City, northern New Jersey, and Wisconsin, plus added retail presence through Festival Foods. At Gateway Beverage Group, we are built to help founders reduce the friction that comes with scaling—across compliance, registrations, logistics, and market execution—so they can stay focused on building the brand. Congratulations to all involved in this latest step forward. #GatewayBeverageGroup #FounderLed #BrandScaling #USExpansion #RouteToMarket #SpiritsBusiness #DistributorNetwork #ComplianceMatters #RetailGrowth #BeverageIndustry

Love this conversation. For brands expanding quickly, building a scalable backbone early makes everything else easier, from operations to guest experience. Great job Brian!

At the Momentum Illumina Conference in Nashville this week with the Beach Shops team. While others are exploring the POS and transaction side, my focus is NetMenu and the operational backbone behind menu management. I previously worked extensively in Food Service Suite, so I’m especially interested in seeing how NetMenu has evolved as the next generation of that platform. I’m looking closely at how it supports production planning, forecasting, inventory tracking, reporting, and automation in a high-volume collegiate dining environment. For me, this isn’t just about new software. It’s about tighter forecasting, smarter production alignment, stronger cost controls, and more actionable reporting to support data-driven decisions. Excited to bring back insights that strengthen how we operate at Beach Shops. #CampusDining #MenuManagement #FoodserviceOperations #HigherEdLeadership #NetMenu #OperationalExcellence

More than 20 years into GXO's relationship with Greene King, and the UK's leading pub company and brewer just extended their partnership with us for another 10 years. It's a fantastic proof of the quality of service we provide our customers on extremely long timelines — innovating, consolidating, optimizing and revolutionizing what they can expect from a logistics partner: https://lnkd.in/ef4HeZxm

When one company retrenches, another sees an opportunity to expand. That well-worn business adage played out this week, as Brandon Brown reported exclusively for Phoenix Business Journal readers, as German grocery store chain ALDI USA has pounced on some large spaces left empty by Big Lots and a former indoor trampoline company, as well as building one ground-up store, in three cities around the Phoenix metro; and as Brown reports, the aggressive retailer isn't done yet CBRE http://bizj.us/1qpnsq