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.