New guidelines issued April 15 recommend a slow roll-out of the July 1 enforcement of California’s Food Handler Card.The new recommendations posted by the California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health recommend that from July 1 through Jan. 1, 2012, enforcement of the law be limited to “education and notification of requirements for compliance.” The…

The National Restaurant Association’s 25th annual Public Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C., April 13-15, covered a number of hot topics, including debit-card swipe fees. Nearly 500 restaurateurs from 44 states headed to Capitol Hill to call on Congress to fight back against banks and debit-card companies seeking to halt recent reforms to swipe fee practices.…

Rezoning neighborhoods to allow for more restaurants is not working out as swiftly as hoped in San Francisco. For the second time in two years, the city’s Board of Supervisors has voted to remove a neighborhood’s longstanding restriction on opening new restaurants, and approved a limited number of new restaurant spaces in three other neighborhoods.…

The government giveth, and the government taketh away. Or maybe it taketh away first, and giveth back when forced. Bureaucracies cut both ways. And while we’ve spent a lot of time lately dealing with the folks pushing bills legislating interior design and whether dealers are allowed to do it, something more to our liking needs…

Canadian dealers Hendrix Hotel & Restaurant Equipment & Supplies Ltd. and Longo Food Service Equipment have signed an agreement to merge. The agreement was effective March 31. The news was reported by local media, including restaurantcentral.ca. The merger between the two Ontario-based companies creates one of Canada’s largest equipment dealerships. Adding Longo’s London, Ontario, location…

Meeting season is at its peak for dealer buying groups and associations. A quick roundup: Excell Marketing Group’s Annual Buying Conference is next week, April 25-30 in San Diego. Int’l. Foodservice Equipment Distributors (IFED) just wrapped up its Spring Conference, April 11-13 in Dallas. National Equipment & Supply Association (NESA) held its Spring Member Meeting…

When our April 5 FER Dealer Report came out, the Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association had just concluded its 2011 Convention in Phoenix. Here’s a recap and a bit of news we couldn’t fit in that issue. Outgoing FEDA Pres. Kimberley Gill Rimsza of TriMark Gill Marketing, Phoenix, passed the presidential reins to Stephen McGarry, president…

Wood Stone Corp. founders Keith Carpenter and Harry Hegarty are taking on new posts—Carpenter as CEO, and Hegarty as COO—and passing on some day-to-day management responsibilities to company veterans. Kurt Eickmeyer has been named president-sales and marketing and Wade Bobb president-engineering, manufacturing and IT. Phil Eaton will assume Eickmeyer’s former role as v.p.-sales and marketing. Jackie…

For the first time in three years, a majority of operators reported they plan to make a capital purchase during the next six months, according to the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index data for February. The component for such intentions reached a 40-month high at 100.4, with 52% of those surveyed saying they plan…

On April 5, the Senate voted to repeal the health care overhaul’s 1099 tax reporting requirements; the House of Representatives earlier repealed the provision. The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011 repeals the expanded 1099 reporting requirement in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The requirement would…