Archive for year: 2025

Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner says American manufacturing comeback is real at CNBC. “Furner was uncertain about the future (of tariffs). “As policies change, they’ll change. Environments will change. That happens. Commodities change,” he said. “We’ve landed in a place where we have more rollbacks going into the fall than we had at the beginning of the year, and that’s something we’re proud of.” Read more

Inside the Empire (Dick’s) That Sports Parents Built at Bloomberg. “I’m a little embarrassed by this, but I love Dick’s,” one fellow soccer dad tells me. “When we walk in, I say ‘I love Dick’s.’ I make my kids say it. It’s our ritual.”…Dick’s has figured out that…sports spending is often non-discretionary. “If your daughter wore a size 5 soccer cleat last year and she needs a size 6,” says Stack, “You don’t put your arm around her and go, ‘You know what, honey, just curl up your toes and wear last year’s cleats and go play soccer.’ You buy a new pair of soccer cleats.” Bloomberg subs.

Walmart deploys millions of new sensors in retail’s first large-scale deployment of IoT tech at CNBC. “…will now (know) exactly where merchandise is located…at any moment, and covering an estimated 90 million pallets of inventory when at full scale…“We expect to be active in about 500 Walmart locations by the end of the year, with plans for national expansion in 2026,” said Greg Cathey, senior vice president of transformation and innovation at Walmart.” Read more

A first look at the Amazon-backed, next-generation nuclear facility planned for Washington state Pics/Read more

Grocery Prices Keep Rising. Frustrated Consumers Are Trying to Adapt. at WSJ. “Christina Duong, a nurse practitioner in Orange County, Calif., said she is alarmed by the high prices of ground beef, seafood and eggs and is scouring Korean grocery stores and other ethnic markets to try to find deals. “The only thing that’s inflation-proof is that darn Costco chicken,” Duong said “Everything else, you name it, it’s gone up.” WSJ subs.

The Creator A-List: The 50 Hottest Influencers on the Planet (2025) Hollywood Reporter

NRF: Retailers estimate that 15.8% of their annual sales will be returned this year, totaling nearly $850 Billion “…an estimated 19.3% of online sales will be returned in 2025…Gen Z (returns), on average, more than any other generation.” Press release

Long Beach, CA severely restricts self-checkouts in attempt to stop shoplifters at NY Post. “…requires large grocery stores and pharmacies to have at least one staff member monitoring every three self-checkout stations…Many stores say they’ve been forced to simply shut down self-checkouts altogether because they can’t hire the staff to meet the new rules.” Read more

Home Depot trying to confirm a shoplifting incident at its location in west Toronto after Ontario premier Doug Ford said he stopped a thief and threatened him if he tried to flee at Toronto Star

Alibaba says its AI spending in e-commerce is already breaking even at CNBC. “Zhang said preliminary testing has showed consistent results from AI, including a 12% increase in returns on advertising spend.” Read more

Inside the Credit Card Battle to Win America’s Richest Shoppers at Bloomberg. “The fierce fight between Amex and Chase is playing out over higher fees, extravagant events and every perk imaginable.” Bloomberg subs.

Costco September comp sales (ex fuel & f/x) +6.0%: US +5.0% / Canada +9.3% / Other Int’l +7.5% / Digitally enabled +26.3% Press release

China’s Golden Week holiday spending dips in latest red flag for economy at Reuters. “Chinese holidaymakers’ average spending dipped to a three-year low over this year’s eight-day Golden Week holiday…Average spending per trip…down 0.55% from the same period last year, according to Reuters calculations…” Reuters subs.

Amazon just opened the warehouse of the future in rural Indiana at Fast Company. “The delivery center, known as DII5 and located in the town of Elkhart, has been designed to test and evaluate more than 40 sustainability initiatives that Amazon hopes to apply to future building projects. These efforts range from using low carbon concrete to air-source heat pumps to an underground water reclamation system. One of its most notable elements is that the delivery station has been built primarily out of mass timber.” Fast Company subs.

Amazon Pharmacy introduces kiosks that dispense medications at the doctor’s office at GeekWire. “According to Amazon, the kiosks will be stocked with a wide range of commonly prescribed medications, including antibiotics, inhalers, and blood pressure medications. Controlled substances and medications requiring refrigeration are not available.” Read more

Google announced on Wednesday that its AI feature that lets users virtually try on clothes is expanding to Australia, Canada, and Japan. The tech giant also announced the feature now lets users virtually try on shoes. TechCrunch

They Got to Live a Life of Luxury. Then Came the Fine Print. at NY Times. “Affirm’s chief executive, Max Levchin, has said that “what we have is a business model that is just perfect for these frankly uncertain times.”…Though the merchant fees (retailers) have to fork over to B.N.P.L. service partners are nearly three times higher than to credit-card companies, studies like Ang’s and Maesen’s have shown that the B.N.P.L.-fueled spikes in consumer spending can more than compensate.” NY Times subs. 

REI is closing its flagship store in SoHo, as well as others in New Jersey and Boston at Yahoo

Walmart welcomes 600 hopeful suppliers to Bentonville at Talk Business. “John Furner, CEO of Walmart U.S., opened the event and interviewed Steuart Walton…(he) reminded the audience that Sam was 44 when he founded Walmart…This year there are 13 technology firms presenting services to Walmart merchants and category managers…This is a new feature at Open Call.” Read more

Kwik Star and Kwik Trip locations are phasing out pennies in change, rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel “in the guest’s favor” at Des Moines Register

Retailers Stockpiled to Avoid Tariffs. The Holidays Will Put That to the Test. at WSJ. “Academy Sports & Outdoors advanced around $100 million in goods in the first half of the year…“This was a big decision for us,” said finance chief Carl Ford…When deciding what to bring in early, Academy looked for items with low markdown liability, or items that don’t go out of season, Ford said. “It’s weights; it’s bicycles,” he offered as examples.” WSJ subs.

Lowe’s completes its acquisition of Foundation Building Materials Press release

How Shipping Is on the Cusp of a Global Carbon Charge at Bloomberg. “Shipping’s global regulator will decide in October whether to ratify sweeping new rules that would force the oil-guzzling industry to start paying for its greenhouse gas emissions. A draft of the regulations received widespread support in the spring at talks held by the United Nations shipping watchdog, the International Maritime Organization. But final adoption is far from guaranteed amid US opposition.” Bloomberg subs.

WIC funding could run short in days at Reuters. “Montana Governor Greg Gianforte’s Republican administration said WIC funding will be provided through “at least the next month” and Connecticut’s Ned Lamont, a Democrat, promised in a pre-shutdown video the state will keep WIC services for new mothers in the near term.” Reuters subs.

Walmart U.S. to Eliminate Synthetic Dyes Across All Private Brand Food Products “…and (eliminate) the use of an additional 30 ingredients, including certain preservatives, artificial sweeteners and fat substitutes from its private brand food products.” Press release

Pepsi looks at coloring Cheetos with paprika at AP. “Tostitos and Lay’s will be the first PepsiCo brands to make the shift, with naturally dyed tortilla and potato chips expected on store shelves later this year and naturally dyed dips due to be on sale early next year…looking at purple sweet potatoes and various types of carrots to color drinks like Mountain Dew and Cherry 7Up…” Read more

Ikea’s new U.S. strategy: Looking beyond the big blue box at Fortune/Yahoo. “We are adding these smaller formats closer to where people are,” Quiñones said. “We’ve tested everything, and it’s confirmed: This is the way forward.”…Best Buy seemed like a good partner, he added, because “they have many locations where we are not present.” Read more

Some grocers say San Diego’s new digital-only coupon ban ‘severely limiting’ deals at NBC 7. “The new ordinance is intended to make digital deals available to everyone, but Albertsons says it’s having the opposite effect.” Read more/Video

Shein enters bricks-and-mortar retail in France, sparking backlash at Reuters. “In front of the Paris City Hall, they are creating the new Shein megastore, which – after destroying dozens of French brands – aims to flood our market even more massively with disposable products,” Yann Rivoallan, head of fashion retail association Fédération Francaise du Pret-a-Porter, said in a statement.” Reuters subs.

Amazon debuts Amazon Grocery, a new private-label brand that offers a range of grocery items, most of which are priced under $5 TechCrunch

Target Debuts Products for Universal Pictures’ ‘Wicked: For Good’ Press release

How stablecoins could change the way Americans shop in stores at CNBC. “…businesses in the U.S. are exploring how the technology could cut down on…payment processing fees. “If credit card transaction fees were an employee in my business, they would be by far the highest-paid employee,” said Wade Preston, co-founder of Prevail Coffee Roasters.” Read more/Video

Bear walked into southern Arizona grocery store and ran around for a few minutes at AP/NY Post

Fired Market Basket CEO files countersuit against company’s board at WMUR

Danish public buying up emergency rations, radios and rice at NY Times. “The public anxiety in Denmark over the drone incursions shows how the zone of concern over Russia is steadily growing…“We’ve seen a crazy increase in sales,” said Valdemar Badsted, a salesperson at Wolf Tactical, a military surplus shop in Copenhagen. “People are getting worried about war.” NY Times subs.

Millennials and Gen Z constituents will make up more than a third of the ultra-wealthy population by 2040 at CNBC

DoorDash Completes Acquisition of Deliveroo Press release

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Owners of Radio Shack and Pier 1 Imports accused by SEC of operating $112 million Ponzi scheme at NY Post. “The US Securities and Exchange Commission accused Alex Mehr and Tai Lopez, founders of Miami-based Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), of duping investors out of roughly $112 million, according to the federal Southern District of Florida filing obtained by The Post.” Read more

Walmart teams up with Spain’s La Liga at CNBC. “The Spanish league’s multi-year deal with Walmart is meant to build on this growing audience for La Liga soccer in the U.S., as well as the growing soccer fanbase ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. “We came in knowing that the World Cup was happening in 2026 and that the sport was growing significantly in in the U.S., and that we needed to be part of that growth…” Gartner said.” Read more

Birkenstock lifts sales outlook on demand boost for clogs and shoes at Reuters. “The company, whose shares were up about 6% in premarket trading, now expects sales of at least 2.09 billion euros ($2.45 billion), implying growth of about 17.5% at constant currency rates over last year.” Reuters subs.

H&M shares jump on Q3 sales beat as turnaround takes pace at USA Today. “Operating profit at the fashion retailer rose 40% year-on-year…It marks the second consecutive quarter of expectation-beating results…as tight cost controls and a return to core product lines under CEO Daniel Erver begin to bear fruit.” Read more

iPhone 17 Scratch Mystery Solved? at CNET. “Apple confirms the scratch culprit is its MagSafe display stands for in-store iPhone demo units…Apple said that cleaning removes the material…The iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro units CNET has been testing for the past two weeks don’t show any scratches, chips or scuffs.” Read more

Target Unveils Bullseye’s Top Toys List Press release

J.D. Power: Appliances with Wi-Fi/Bluetooth have an average of 87 problems per 100 appliances, those without connectivity experience an average of 63. “Front-load washers have most reported problems…Clothes dryers and cooking appliances have the lowest rates of reported problems.” Read more

AutoZone Q4 comp sales +5.1% Press release

Viral collision of delivery robot and man in mobility scooter sparks online firestorm at LA Times/Yahoo. “Mark Chaney…shared the video…Less than two weeks later, it has more than 26 million views on TikTok and Instagram combined, generating fierce backlash against the company that created the bot (and death threats against Chaney).” Read more

‘Nightmare bacteria’ cases are increasing in the US at AP. ” Infection rates from drug-resistant “nightmare bacteria” rose almost 70% between 2019 and 2023, according to (CDC)…It’s likely many people are unrecognized carriers of the drug-resistant bacteria, which could lead to community spread, the CDC scientists said.” Read more