Kroger, Instacart launch superfast delivery services as online grocery demand spikes

Fox Business
Kroger is expanding its delivery reach with help from Instacart. . . more

Dunkin's first digital-only store doesn't reduce labor

Restaurant Dive

Dunkin' on Tuesday celebrated the grand opening of its first digital-only restaurant in Boston after opening the location to the public on Aug. 18, the company told Restaurant Dive in an email. . . . more

Chick-fil-A to launch 3 virtual concepts in Nashville

Restaurant Dive
Chick-fil-A will debut its Little Blue Menu delivery kitchen concept at a pilot location in Nashville this fall, and an Atlanta location will open in 2022, according to a company blog post. . . more

Holiday sales could spike 9% in 2021: Deloitte

Retail Dive
Retail sales during the holiday season could rise 7% to 9%, according to the latest projections from Deloitte. . . more

Tropical Smoothie Cafe in store milestone

CSA
Tropical Smoothie Cafe is moving closer to its goal. . . more

Bed Bath & Beyond to hold ‘Open House’ events; debut all-star advisory panel

CSA

Bed Bath & Beyond wants customers to see its transformation up close. . . . more

Burlington Mall Is Getting Revamped

Patch
The Burlington Mall is mixing it up, expanding its store selection, and adding some extra outdoor hangout space. . . . more

Sam’s Club to raise minimum wage

CSA

Sam’s Club is following the lead of other retailers and raising its minimum wage as companies find themselves in hot competition to attract workers amid a tight labor market. . . . more

Rite Aid to move to new ‘remote-first’ headquarters — in Philadelphia

CSA

Rite Aid is moving its corporate headquarters from its longtime location in Camp Hill, Pa., to a new “enterprise headquarters” in Philadelphia’s Navy Yard district. . . . more

Kohl’s vet takes top tech post at Men’s Wearhouse parent company

CSA

A 16-year Kohl’s veteran has joined the leadership team at Tailored Brands. . . . more

Dunkin’ Opens First ‘Digital-Only’ Restaurant In Boston

CBS Boston
 A new kind of Dunkin’ has just opened in Boston. The Canton-based chain is unveiling its first-ever “digital-only” restaurant. . . . more

Taco Bell tests mobile subscription plan

CSA

If you have a smartphone and love eating tacos, Taco Bell is piloting a new loyalty offering just for you. . . . more

Torrid, brushing aside its competition, plans 25 new stores each year

Retail Dive
With healthy sales, margin and profit gains, Torrid came out swinging Wednesday with its first quarterly report as a public company. Second quarter net sales rose 34% year over year and 29% from 2019 to $332.9 million, as comps rose 30% from last year and 26% from 2019. . . . more

Party City in hiring blitz for Halloween

CSA

Party City is looking to hire as it ramps up for its most important selling season — Halloween. . . . more

Despite COVID-19 concerns, holiday spending looks solid

CSA

A new survey from Berkeley Research Group (BRG) reveals most consumers will spend the same or more on the holidays this year as in 2020. . . . more

David’s Bridal to host first-ever warehouse sale; says brides are happier

CSA

The nation's largest bridal retailer is holding what it said will be its biggest sale ever, and also reporting on bridal customer attitudes as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. . . . more

Dick’s Sporting Goods to hire the most seasonal workers in its history

CSA

Dick’s Sporting Goods is going on a holiday hiring spree. . . . more

A milestone and more for Floor & Decor

HBS Dealer

Floor & Decor, the rapidly growing home improvement specialty retailer has opened its 150th location. . . . more

Wegmans will open three new stores in 2022

Plain Vanilla Shell
Wegmans Food Markets has announced it will open three more stores next year in the nation's Mid-Atlantic region: in Alexandria, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Delaware, just outside Wilmington. . . . more

Back-to-School Footwear Sales Bolstered by Child Tax Credit, Improving Wages

Footwear News

The back-to-school season is in full swing. And as kids and young adults head back to the classroom, certain trends are starting to emerge in footwear sales numbers. . . . more

Petco expands its subscription box service

Retail Dive

To address various pet owners' needs, and build on the growth it experienced this past year, Petco on Wednesday expanded its PupBox subscription offerings. . . . more

Banana Republic goes back to its roots with new brand identity

Retail Dive
After years of underperformance at Gap, Banana Republic announced on Tuesday that it is revamping its brand identity to focus on "democratic, approachable and inclusive luxury." . . . more

Amazon bringing cashierless tech to Whole Foods Market

CSA

Amazon continues to expand its “Just Walk Out” autonomous checkout technology, this time to its Whole Foods Market division. . . . more

Athleta in big expansion of wholesale partnership with REI

CSA

Athleta goods will soon be available in nearly all REI Co-op stores. . . . more

Lululemon Q2 sales, earnings top expectations; hikes outlook

CSA

Lululemon Athletica Inc. maintained its momentum in the second quarter. . . . more

Dick’s Sporting Goods to unveil outdoor-focused store concept in Pittsburgh

CSA

Dick’s Sporting Goods is set to unwrap its long-awaited new store format that is focused on outdoor activities and land conservation. . . . more

Francesca's tests new concepts, including tween stores

Retail Dive

Francesca's has emerged from bankruptcy with new ideas about how to thrive in a tough apparel market further complicated by the pandemic. The chain joins Victoria's Secret and others in testing fresh store concepts, which may launch in time for the holidays, CEO Andrew Clarke said in an interview. . . . more

What do Macy's and the Toys R Us brand have to offer each other?

Retail Dive

Toys R Us is back! … Again. The perennial comeback of the toy retail brand is becoming a regular feature of life following the defunct toy store chain's liquidation in 2018. . . . more

Psycho Bunny accelerating store expansion

CSA

Psycho Bunny is expanding nationwide to properties operated by Simon. . . . more

Walmart’s new pay hike brings average hourly wage to $16.40

CSA

Walmart announced its third pay increase of the year for hourly employees. . . . more

Summer Recap: Five major retail deals

CSA

It was a busy spring and summer for dealmakers in the retail industry. Here’s a look at five of the biggest deals. . . . more

China’s Miniso makes East Coast debut; doubles down on U.S. expansion

CSA

A China-based, global value retailer is bullish on U.S. store expansion. . . . more

This Fast-Growing Upscale Pizza Chain Plans to Open 100 New Locations

Yahoo! Life

For decades, New York and Chicago have been considered the pizza meccas of America. Now, California may be gaining steam as another strong contender. . . . more

Wendy's is upgrading its french fries

CNN Business
Few things in life are worse than a soggy french fry. Wendy's says it has a solution. . . . more

Mall jeweler Signet's sales soar as millennials rush to get hitched

CNN Business
Call it love in the time of Covid. Those TV commercials for Jared and Kay — as in "every kiss begins with ..." — may be cheesy, but they are working. . . . more

Big Y Foods begins rollout of mobile checkout

Supermarket News

Big Y Foods has launched mobile checkout in about a quarter of its stores with digital shopping specialist FutureProof Retail (FPR). . . . more

Chipotle gamifies loyalty program with extra perks

Restaurant Dive
Chipotle launched a rewards program feature Wednesday called Extras, which allows members to access extra points and receive free Chipotle items faster. As part of the rollout, Chipotle Rewards members can get double points on a purchase through Sept. 3. . . . more

Burlington's sourcing costs are up 78% over 2 years due to pandemic supply chain disruptions

Retail Dive

Burlington Stores' product sourcing costs rose by 78% in the past two years, a shift driven almost entirely by higher supply chain costs during the pandemic, Chief Financial Officer John Crimmins said on the company's Q2 earnings call. . . . more

Chewy sales leap 27% as it takes market share

Retail Dive
Online pet specialist Chewy's second-quarter sales rose 26.8% year over year to nearly $2.2 billion. . . . more

Walgreens, Mastercard partner on new bank account and debit card

CSA

Walgreens continues building on its financial services offerings. . . . more

Target CIO Mike McNamara set to retire

Supermarket News

Target Corp. Chief Information Officer Mike McNamara is slated to retire in 2022. . . . more

Sally Beauty names new CEO

CSA

Sally Beauty on Wednesday announced that Denise Paulonis will be CEO effective Oct. 1, according to a company press release. . . . more

Wegmans Food Markets tops People’s ‘100 Companies That Care’ list — here’s why

CSA

A family-owned supermarket chain landed the No. 1 spot on a ranking of employers that have gone above and beyond to create positive workplaces for their staff and the community at large. . . . more

Build-A-Bear comeback continues with its highest Q2 profit ever

CSA

Build-A-Bear Workshop’s maintained its momentum in the second quarter, leading to the company’s strongest first six months performance in its nearly 25-year history. . . . more

Gap posts highest Q2 net sales in 10-plus years

CSA
Gap Inc. reported second-quarter earnings that crushed Wall Street expectations and sales that topped $4 billion, led by its Old Navy and Athleta brands. . . . more

A tale of two dollar stores: Dollar Tree hit by freight while Dollar General mostly shrugs off costs

Retail Dive
Shipping bottlenecks and freight costs are hitting retailers across the board. While many players have responded with price increases for consumers, when your proposition is a single price point — say $1 — the options for mitigating costs are more limited. . . . more

Off-price retailers brace for uncertainty despite healthy Q2

Retail Dive
Off-price stores tend to thrive even when external forces are pressuring other retailers because they appeal to consumers regardless if the economy is up or down. . . . more

First Look: Check out Bloomingdale’s new small-store concept

CSA

Bloomingdale’s has opened its first-ever location under the “Bloomies” banner. . . . more

Stop & Shop now accepting EBT payments for online SNAP purchases

Supermarket News
Stop & Shop on Thursday became the latest Ahold Delhaize USA supermarket chain to allow customers using SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits the option to pay with an EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card when placing online orders for pickup and delivery. . . more

Home Depot improves inventory depth with focus on high-velocity SKUs

Retail Dive
The Home Depot is prioritizing high-demand categories and chartering ships to build its inventory levels and mitigate the effects of supply chain disruptions, company executives said on the company's Q2 earnings call. . . more

Ulta 'thrilled' with Target partnership as first 58 stores open

Retail Dive
Ulta is back on track after the lows of the pandemic, posting a record second quarter that included $1.97 billion in net sales (up 60.2%), a comp sales increase of 56.3% and net income of $251 million (a more than 3,000% increase). . . . more

Best Buy lets advertisers directly target its customers

CSA

A consumer electronics giant is signing on with a digital third-party ad network. . . . more

Gap continues size inclusion push with virtual fit tech acquisition

CSA

Gap Inc. is purchasing Drapr, a startup that enables customers to create 3D avatars and virtually try on clothing. . . . more

Amazon opens first high-tech grocery store in Maryland

CSA

Live from Chevy Chase, Md. - it’s the latest Amazon Fresh location. . . . more

CSA
Dollar General Q2 beats Street; on track to open 1,050 stores. . . more