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 Feb. 9 in…

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Senate voted to repeal the health care overhaul’s 1099 tax reporting requirements; the House of Representatives earlier repealed the provision.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…

The Middleby Corp. has inked an agreement to acquire Lincat Group, the British foodservice and bar equipment manufacturer, for ₤58 million ($94.95 million). The cash takeover offer by Middleby Holding UK Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elgin, Ill.-based Middleby, was announced in England March 23. Foodservice Equipment Reports confirmed the pending acquisition with Selim Bassoul,…

Kent Motes, founder of AutoQuotes Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., has received the President’s Dealer-based Distribution Award from the Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association. Outgoing FEDA Pres. Kimberley Gill Rimsza of TriMark Gill Marketing, Phoenix, presented the award at FEDA’s 2011 Convention in Phoenix in late March. She also passed the presidential reins to Stephen McGarry, president of…

In a year marked by a return to sales growth for some of the country’s biggest name brands, Five Guys Burgers & Fries was 2010’s fastest-growing restaurant chain. The news comes through the market research firm Technomic Inc. Its annual Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report calculates that systemwide sales at the 500 largest chain concepts…

Marty Rothschild has taken the reins as president of Aladdin Temp-Rite, an Ali Group company.  He will report to Robert Nerbonne, CEO of Ali Group North America. Rothschild succeeds Jim Clapper, who announced his retirement after five years as company president. Rothschild had been serving as v.p.-sales and marketing for Aladdin, which makes meal delivery…

Christopher Leader has been named president of Hoshizaki America. Leader joined the Peachtree City, Ga.-based manufacturer in January 2010; he had been serving as COO. Leader also was appointed president of Hoshizaki USA Holdings Inc., the parent company of Hoshizaki America and Lancer Corp., a beverage dispenser maker headquartered in San Antonio. Hoshizaki USA Holdings…