Daniel Friel, an inventor and the founder of EdgeCraft Corp., died Sept. 21. He was 92.Friel, an engineer, entered the foodservice equipment industry at age 65 after a 39-year career at DuPont, where he retired as the worldwide director of instruments and biomedical products. Frustration with a dull carving knife on Thanksgiving led Friel to…

Pecinka Ferri Associates has added Emre Evren to its sales team as an outside sales rep handling the dealer and end-user network. Evren has been a supply-chain manager, manufacturer’s representative, associate consultant and most recently project manager for two of the firm’s major contract dealers, BRC Commercial Kitchens and M Tucker Co., division of Singer…

Jack in the Box is making a jump into the Midwest market. The San Diego-based chain opened its first outlet in Ohio last month; it hopes the new Cincinnati store will help launch it further eastward, into Cleveland, where it is actively recruiting franchisees. Jack in the Box has more than 2,200 restaurants in 20…

Two landmarks for Domino’s Pizza: The chain opened its 10,000th store—in Kaligthane, Turkey. The Ann Arbor, Mich., chain has more than 250 stores in Turkey, all owned and operated by Fides, a private equity company. A day earlier, the chain opened store no. 9,999 in Carlsbad, Calif. Both stores feature the new "Pizza Theater" design,…

Foodservice Equipment Reports, with the assistance of the magazine’s Awards Selection Advisory Boards, has chosen six organizations to receive the magazine’s first Management Excellence Awards. The awards recognize companies and firms that clearly demonstrate excellence in the management of unit and facilities development, design, equipment and supplies purchasing, and maintenance functions in commercial and noncommercial…

Apparently, the first 63 years have gone pretty well. The National Restaurant Association announced Oct. 1 that its annual Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show and International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event will remain in Chicago through 2021. After thorough review of options, the NRA signed a new five-year agreement with the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and…

There’s quite a bit of news from Kitchen Brains, the Stratford, Conn., entity that combines SCK Direct and Food Automation-Service Techniques (FAST). The company, which creates interconnected kitchen technology, including timers and process-control products, has announced five personnel changes. Reza Khani, who rejoined the company last spring, has been promoted to general manager and senior v.p.…

Sysco Corp. has installed Randy White, president and CEO of Sysco Canada’s Western region and Sysco Calgary, as the new president of Sysco Canada. The broadline giant also named Rod Stroud, president and CEO of Sysco Canada’s eastern region and Sysco Central Ontario, as executive v.p. and COO of Sysco Canada. White will oversee all…

One of the country’s largest Taco Bell franchisees, K-MAC Holdings, has acquired No Limits LLC, a Missouri-based Taco Bell franchisee that owns and operates 25 Taco Bell restaurants. K-MAC is owned by Brentwood Associates and currently operates 231 Yum! branded restaurants in the Taco Bell and KFC systems as well as six Golden Corral restaurants.…

Foodservice operators’ capital purchasing activity and intentions fell strongly in the August survey for the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index, while nearly all other indicators in the index rose. Big increases in current same-store sales and customer traffic pushed the overall index up 0.4 point to 100.6. It was the 10th consecutive month the…