Today in Restaurant and Grocery Tech: H-E-B Launches Store-in-Store Partnership; Walmart Soars Over Amazon Food Sales

Today in restaurant and grocery tech news, Texas supermarket chain H-E-B announced a partnership with a jewelry store, and ghost kitchen Wing Boss opened its first physical location. Plus, Taco Bell and Pret a Manger both launched subscription services this past week.

Noodles & Company Launches San Jose Ghost Kitchen

Fast-casual restaurant chain Noodles & Company has opened a second ghost kitchen in San Jose, California, bringing its global made-to-order noodle dishes to another location after its first ghost kitchen in Humboldt Park in Chicago debuted in May, according to a company announcement on Thursday (Sept. 16).

Amazon’s Food Fight Fails to Minimize Walmart’s 10-to-1 Lead

Over the past year, Amazon has increased its focus on sales of food and beverage, the lone category where it seriously lags behind Walmart, but those efforts have yet to make an impression in the retail giants’ food fight. Walmart still has a nearly 10-to-1 lead over Amazon, which failed to move the needle even during a pandemic that forced shoppers inside and accelerated adoption of eCommerce across nearly every sector.

H-E-B Joins Store-in-a-Store Trend With New Jewelry Shop Partnership

Texas chain H-E-B, which operates more than 420 stores in Texas and Mexico, announced this week that it is partnering with retailer James Avery Artisan Jewelry to bring jewelry shops into its stores. Partnerships like these allow retailers to engage with consumers across more pillars of the connected economy, creating the opportunity to deepen their relationships with their shoppers, drawing them into stores and building loyalty.

Restaurant Roundup: Wing Boss Goes Brick-and-Mortar, New F&B Subscription Services Launch

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s ghost kitchen gets a physical location, Del Taco launches a new loyalty program, Taco Bell debuts a taco subscription service and Pret a Manger brings its coffee subscription service to the United States.