Amazon and U.S. Postal Service Reach Delivery Deal at WSJ. “Instead of reducing the number of packages Amazon ships through the Postal Service by two-thirds…the two sides now have a tentative deal that will result in a 20% reduction…(Amazon) is the Postal Service’s largest customer, shipping nearly 15% of all the packages that the USPS delivered in the country last year.” WSJ subs.

 

Lowe’s is investing $250 million to train skilled trades workers at Fortune. “… to help train 250,000 skilled trades workers in fields like plumbing, carpentry, and electrical work. The company had previously committed over $50 million to nonprofits and community college partners…” Fortune subs.

 

Doritos at $7 a Bag Ended Up Costing PepsiCo Billions at Bloomberg. “Meetings with retailers like Walmart, which wanted the snack maker to address concerns about affordability as soon as possible, became tense…By agreeing to lower prices, the company secured, on average, a double digit increase in shelf space at major retailers like Walmart, Costco and Target.” Bloomberg subs.

 

Academy Sports expects sales for Q1 to be up 6% – 7%, with comp sales up 2% – 3% Press release

 

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Empowering merchants with agentic AI at McKinsey & Co. “Especially in merchandising, a lot of activities are still manual…Two things I often discuss with my clients, particularly in grocery retail, are performance management and procurement…Now, these tasks have become much easier. The agent does them for you…You come in on Monday morning no longer looking at dashboards, but at a report detailing what worked and didn’t work last week, along with recommendations…” Read more

 

Bed Bath & Beyond Names Veteran Retail Operator Amy Sullivan President “…(joined) Kirkland’s in 2012, where she rose from divisional merchandise manager to President and CEO.” Press release

 

The Retailer That Welcomes Returns at WSJ. “Revolve’s return rate is roughly 60% as the retailer remains committed to a shopper-friendly free return policy. That didn’t stop the company’s profit from surging nearly 60% in the fourth quarter.” WSJ subs.

 

Retailers rely on First Sale mitigation tactic. Congress has noticed. at Retail Dive. “Essentially, you have a manufacturer who makes a product, sells it to a middleman for $20, but the middleman then sells it to the importer for, let’s say, $80,” The NRF’s VP of Supply Chain and Customs Policy, Jonathan Gold, told Retail Dive. “That importer can use the $20 valuation for what they’re declaring for customs for the tariff purposes.” Read more

 

Wayfair Announces First Florida Store “…in Florida at Galleria Fort Lauderdale, as part of the center’s comprehensive redevelopment. Scheduled to open in late 2027…” Press release

 

Used car prices rise to highest point since summer 2023 at CNBC. “We thought we’d see some impact from the Middle East conflict, and that may still happen. But right now, the data is clear: used-vehicle demand is healthy and inventory levels are relatively tight,” Cox Automotive chief economist Jeremy Robb said in a release.” Read more

 

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