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Indiana is the latest flash point in Kroger ’s spreading labor unrest. Members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 700 — representing roughly 8,000 clerks, meat-cutters, and pharmacy techs across central Indiana — rejected a tentative four-year agreement by a lopsided 74% “no” vote. The “no” vote automatically activated strike authorization, giving leaders the legal power to call a walkout at any moment.
TJ Maxx has launched the You Sponsored by TJ Maxx program, which will award 10 women designated as “True Originals” with custom sponsorship deals designed to support their next moves in three categories: opportunity, connections and visibility. Additionally, TJ Maxx has recruited Co-sponsors for the program from the worlds of sports, music, beauty and design who will provide mentorship and advice to the winners.
Family-owned pet retailer PetO will cease the sale of live animals across all 58 of its stores nationwide, citing growing concerns over animal welfare and a lack of regulation in the industry. The decision comes as scrutiny increases over the ethics of live animal sales, particularly in a market dominated by large chains and global players. With two-thirds of Australian households now owning a pet, PetO says the industry’s current practices are failing to meet community expectations.
SHOP VIDEOS PODCAST BLOG LOGIN Sales Training Retail Sales Training Online Retail Sales Training In Person Speaking Consulting Event Planners Retail 101 Selling Luxury Retail Retail Sales Training Retail Sales Training Online Retail Sales Strategy Retail Merchandising Retail Customer Service The Retail Doctor Video Library Retail News About Clients Contact us Why Experienced Retail Staff Still Struggle To Convert Shoppers By Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor | June 12, 2025 --> Subscribe to our news
Retailers know the clock is ticking–legacy SAP Commerce support ends in 2026. Legacy platforms are becoming a liability burdened by complexity, rigidity, and mounting operational costs. But modernization isn’t just about swapping out systems, it’s about preparing for a future shaped by real-time interactions, AI powered buying assistants, and flexible commerce architecture.
Interval, an independent running specialist and community hub in Edinburgh, brought Andy Matthews Studio – the London architecture practice responsible for Tracksmith’s flagship UK store – on board to design the brand’s home base on Easter Road. Interval by Andy Matthews Studio. Copyright Jim Stephenson 2024 Working collaboratively with Interval, the intention was to make the most of the modest budget with a functional, hard-working store emblematic of the brand’s values – community, honesty and
Big Lots has opened upwards of 80 locations as the retailer moves forward under new leadership. According to a press release , the retailer reopened 78 of its previously shuttered locations on Thursday, June 5. This makes 219 reopened stores since coming under the ownership of Variety Wholesalers. The reopened stores are located across Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Peter Halkett will become the new CEO of Oroton Group later this month, succeeding Jenny Child. Halkett, who had been CEO of women’s clothing label Rebecca Vallance since January, will assume the role on June 16. He previously held leadership roles at Brandbank Group, Moochi and APG & Co. “Oroton is an iconic Australian brand with a proud heritage and significant opportunities ahead,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Peter Halkett will become the new CEO of Oroton Group later this month, succeeding Jenny Child. Halkett, who had been CEO of women’s clothing label Rebecca Vallance since January, will assume the role on June 16. He previously held leadership roles at Brandbank Group, Moochi and APG & Co. “Oroton is an iconic Australian brand with a proud heritage and significant opportunities ahead,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
AI has already raised consumer expectations across the board. People expect hyper-personalization, and they expect things to happen faster. What used to take a day should take an hour, and what took an hour should take a minute. When it comes to purchasing decisions, CPG brands and retailers still rely heavily on visuals, shelf presence and advertising to stand out.
Retail's dirty little secret? Most of our systems don’t talk to each other. For years, we’ve bolted on new tech in hopes it would create clarity. Instead, we ended up with disconnected software—each tool with its own data, interface, and logic. The warehouse couldn’t see labor needs. POS had no idea what was stuck in the receiving area. Scheduling was a guessing game.
As UK consumers navigate ongoing cost-of-living pressures, affordability and convenience remain decisive factors in where and how they shop. According to new research conducted by Ipsos, online marketplace Temu is rapidly gaining favour among British shoppers — not just as a source of budget-friendly goods, but also as a platform driving creative and entrepreneurial activity.
Using Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI platform, Starbucks is adding a generative AI assistant to 35 stores this month. The technology’s intent is to help baristas improve efficiency and decrease service wait times. Named “Green Dot Assist,” the platform was introduced to North American store managers at Starbucks’ Leadership Experience earlier this week in Las Vegas.
AI agents already analyze trends, draft content, and trigger actions across leading commerce platforms. Yet most organizations still rely on workflows built for human‑only teams, losing speed, margin, and customer loyalty. Humans + Agents: Rethinking Enterprise Commerce in the Age of AI Collaboration shows how to close that gap. In one concise read you’ll see where agent gains surface first, how early adopters prove ROI, and which lean controls keep innovation moving without risking data or bran
While David Jones’ chief executive Scott Fyfe has positioned the department store’s new loyalty program in partnership with Qantas as a key element in the group’s recovery strategy, retail experts aren’t convinced it’s that simple. “A loyalty program is not the panacea for every business’s long-term growth need,” Adam Posner, The Point of Loyalty founder, told Inside Retail.
Retail is undergoing a generational shift, and at the center of it is a powerful and misunderstood consumer: Gen Z. Born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, this generation already outnumbers Gen X in raw terms and now commands over $360 billion in spending power in the U.S. alone. However, Gen Z doesn’t shop like their predecessors. They’ve grown up in a world shaped by social media, rapid technological advancement and rising social consciousness.
Matalan is set to invest over £25m into its UK store estate this year as part of a multi-year transformation programme. The fashion and homeware retailer will upgrade 30 stores and open 10 new or relocated sites across key regions including London, Essex, Hampshire and Northern Ireland. The move follows a £25m funding boost from anchor investors last month.
As global supply chains become increasingly complex, the demand for transparency has never been greater. Retailers face mounting pressure from consumers, regulators, and stakeholders to demonstrate ethical sourcing, sustainable practices, and operational accountability. Traditional supply chain systems, built on fragmented and often manual processes, struggle to offer real-time visibility.
Category Management is a cornerstone of a successful retail strategy. While it promotes collaboration between manufacturers and retailers to optimize category performance, challenges persist in its effective implementation due to hurdles in communication and collaboration across teams and partners, and more. In this guide, we outline five essential strategies for success in 2025 that will touch on all the essential pieces of a successful strategy and implementation.
Chipotle plans a rapid expansion of its restaurant footprint. With the help of AI, the Tex-Mex chain is opening a new location almost daily. Chipotle’s AI hiring platform, dubbed Ava Cado , is driving the growth spurt. According to CEO Scott Boatwright, the tech is reducing hiring time by 75%. “This not only helps us keep our restaurant staffed, but ensures we have the best talent that’s available in the industry,” Boatwright told Fortune.
Alquemie Group has closed down National Geographic Stores in Australia, weeks after selling sister brands Ginger & Smart and Surfstitch to an undisclosed buyer. The National Geographic Stores launched in Australia in 2023 as a partnership between Alquemie and The Walt Disney Company. The stores sold outerwear and adventure clothing and were launched to compete with brands like Kathmandu and The North Face.
In 1932, fledgling Florida department store Bealls went bankrupt and was owned by the bank for more than 10 years. Now, nine decades later, the chain is celebrating its 110 th anniversary and is bigger and stronger than ever, with more than 650 stores across 22 states. The story of how Bealls (pronounced “bells” despite that errant “a”) went from financial ruin to enduring success — achieving a milestone that most companies, retailer or otherwise, never reach — is particularly poignant right now
Key Takeaways Identify Common Pain Points: Recognizing challenges like long wait times, poor communication, and lack of personalization is crucial to improving customer experience. Streamline Processes: Enhance efficiency by refining service delivery and establishing clear, consistent communication practices to reduce customer frustration. Prioritize Customer Relationships: Implement a systematic follow-up process and personalized interactions to foster loyalty and increase conversion rates.
Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.
EE is bringing the future face of retail to Nottingham with the launch of a new Experience store – the latest iteration of a cutting-edge retail experience concept created in partnership with global strategy and design studio, Dalziel & Pow. The Experience store is part of EE’s new strategy, which seeks to reinvent the role of retail in the telco industry by putting innovation, personal experience and community front-and-centre.
With inflation continuing to stretch household budgets, many shoppers are rethinking where they buy everyday items. Surprisingly, Dollar Tree is now drawing in a more affluent crowd than ever, as even higher-income consumers look for ways to cut costs. Retail Dive shared remarks from Dollar Tree CEO Mike Creedon, who told analysts in a conference call that the chain added 2.6 million new customers in the Q1 period.
The Athlete’s Foot has opened a new generation concept store on Church Street, Brighton. Marking the brand’s 145th store nationally, and its 34th in Victoria, the new two-storey location brings a fresh approach to in-store design and customer experience. At its core is the MyFit 3D fitting zone, offering personalised fitting solutions in a modern, private setting.
Most brands know how to build loyalty. Fewer know how to build fandom — and that’s where they fall short. Loyalty is structured. Predictable. A well-oiled loop: customers spend more, get more and come back. It’s measurable. It lives in dashboards. And it’s almost entirely under the brand’s control. Fandom isn’t. Fandom is irrational, emotional and messy.
AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.
Key Takeaways Customer Feedback is Essential: Actively encouraging complaints helps identify opportunities for improving products and services, ultimately leading to increased customer satisfaction. Complaints as Improvement Tools: Viewing complaints as valuable insights allows businesses to identify areas for enhancement and fosters a proactive culture focused on customer experience.
Asteri, the pioneering female-founded Saudi Arabian beauty brand named after Asteria, the Greek goddess of falling stars, has added two new stars to its constellation with the opening of new concept stores in Festival City Mall in Doha and Panorama Mall in Riyadh. The brand spaces, both designed by global strategy and design studio Dalziel & Pow , represent the region they are located in, celebrating local heritage and the beauty and diversity of Arab women.
For nearly a decade, McDonald’s customers have begged the Golden Arches to resurrect the Snack Wrap. Change.org petitions, Facebook groups, and TikTok taste-tests of overseas versions kept the pressure on long after the chicken-and-cheese handheld left U.S. menus in 2016. Now the wait is over: The chain confirmed that the Snack Wrap is making a permanent return nationwide on July 10, 2025.
In its second major collapse in less than a decade, Toys R Us Australia and New Zealand has once again handed itself over to administrators , marking the latest chapter in a cautionary tale of retail miscalculation. Once the go-to destination for generations of Australian children, the beloved toy brand has been suspended from the Australian Securities Exchange and is now searching for buyers under the stewardship of administrators from BDO.
When it comes to driving traffic and growing your online presence, businesses often ask: SEO or PPC—what’s the better choice? This guide breaks down the key differences between search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, highlighting their pros, cons, and best use cases. Whether you’re looking for long-term organic growth or immediate visibility through paid ads, we’ll help you determine which strategy—or combination of both—is right for your business.
In its never-ending quest to get products to customers more quickly, Amazon has deployed three AI-powered innovations designed to speed up and streamline fulfillment and delivery processes: Wellspring, a generative AI mapping solution that draws data from sources including building footprints, customer instructions, information from prior deliveries and satellite imagery to create more comprehensive delivery solutions; A foundational AI forecasting model that adds time-bound data like weather pa
The European Union is investing over $200 billion into AI — but to gain the most value from this investment, its developers must navigate three key constraints: limited compute availability, data-privacy needs and safety priorities. Unveiled at the NVIDIA GTC Paris keynote at VivaTech , a new suite of NVIDIA technologies is making it easier to address these challenges at every stage of the AI development and deployment cycle.
Silverburn, the prime retail and leisure asset located in Glasgow, owned by Henderson Park and managed by Eurofund Group, has secured Stradivarius as the latest addition to its retail line-up. The Inditex-owned brand will be taking over a 6,462 sq ft unit which represents the brand’s first store in Glasgow. The arrival of Stradivarius means that Silverburn will soon host four Inditex brands in a line-up including the newly opened Zara flagship and Pull & Bear, and a new Bershka scheduled
Although the current school year isn’t over yet for all kids, some families are already thinking about the costs associated with their children going back to school in the fall. Amid economic uncertainty, rising prices, and fears of product shortages, many caregivers are rethinking when and what they shop for. Experts say this year’s back-to-school season will likely start earlier than usual, as shoppers aim to beat potential price spikes and supply chain challenges.
Late deliveries. Split shipments. Spiraling freight costs. For home, furniture, and DIY brands, fulfillment has never been more complex—or more critical. This report outlines how a smarter, AI-ready order management system (OMS) helps you reduce shipping costs, streamline project-based fulfillment, and ensure accurate inventory across every channel.
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