News Briefs

Michaels' holiday plans include the opportunity for families to get creative together.

The arts-and-crafts retailer will host free in-store events every Saturday in December from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. leading up to Christmas, designed for families to take a break from the busy holiday season and get creative together. Michaels will provide materials and instructions to help attendees paint their own personalized wooden ornament, alongside complimentary festive treats.

In addition, Michaels will continue to host seasonal-themed “MakeBreak” and “Kids Club” events every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the winter.

In other holiday plans, Michaels is offering up to 70% off storewide during its extended Black Friday and Cyber Monday event (Nov. 21 – Dec. 6) with its deepest discounts ever on everything from artificial trees and holiday décor to handmade gifting supplies like yarn and apparel.  

"We're especially focused this year on delivering more value to shoppers through a combination of sales and promotions, convenient pick-up and delivery options, and an expanded assortment of seasonal décor items and gifts," said David Boone, CEO at Michaels. "Above all, though, we want to help our customers celebrate the magic of the holiday season by creating opportunities for connection, creativity and celebration right in our stores."

The Michaels Cos. operate more than 1,300 Michaels stores in 49 states and Canada. It also owns Artistree, a manufacturer of custom and specialty framing merchandise.

A leading youth fashion retailer is integrating mobile checkout, RFID-based inventory management and seamless fulfillment.

Following a five-month project start to pilot phase, Pacsun rolled out Manhattan Associates Active POS cloud-native in-store sales and service solution across 300 stores. Mobile checkout capabilities eased in-store lines, while unified inventory management based on RFID integration supported seamless social fulfillment across Instagram, Amazon, TikTok and Pacsun’s own channels. 

[Read more: Pacsun implementing RFID at store level]

During peak 2024 holiday season, Pacsun achieved record-breaking revenue and streamlined operations, with 40% of online orders being fulfilled via stores, In addition, the retailer reported that by optimizing inventory proximity, labor capacity and shipping costs, it reduced logistics expenses 25%.

"Manhattan’s POS is a game-changer," said Shirey Gao, Pacsun’s chief digital and information officer. "Unified commerce means one transaction, one checkout, whether a customer buys online, returns in-store, or accesses inventory from any channel. Store associates adapted instantly, turning challenges like oversold items into opportunities."

According to Pacsun, store associates can now leverage capabilities like intuitive workflows that streamline returns and endless aisle functionality that convert out-of-stocks into digital orders, allowing the retailer’s stores to also serve as service and fulfillment hubs. This retailer anticipates this will turn post-return purchases into a revenue driver with in-store upsells increasing during exchanges.

"Pacsun’s success underscores how stores thrive when unified with digital," said Stewart Gantt, executive VP, professional services, Manhattan Associates. "Our POS solution isn’t just a tool. It’s a growth engine that turns every interaction into a loyalty-building moment, whether a customer starts their journey on TikTok or in a fitting room."

VF Corp. is down to its three core brands.

Bluestar Alliance owns, manages and markets a portfolio of fashion, lifestyle and consumer brands, with more than 500 licensees and a growing branded retail platform of over 500 stores throughout North America, Europe, Australia, South America, Asia, and the Middle East. Its brands include Scotch & Soda, Justice, Bebe, Tahari and others. 

The popular shapewear and apparel brand co-founded by reality TV superstar and business entrepreneur Kim Kardashian has become even more valuable.

Skims has added $225 million in new funding in a round led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with participation from BDT & MSD Partners. The latest funding brings the valuation of the six-year-old brand to $5 billion. 

Skims plans to use the new capital to accelerate brick-and-mortar and international expansion, as well as product innovation and category diversification, according to a report by CNBC. Skims said it is laying the groundwork to become a “predominantly physical business” in the coming years, the report said. 

Skims, which is set to generate more than $1 billion in revenues this year, currently operates 18 stores in cities including New York, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. In October, the company opened its largest store yet, an 8,000-sq.-ft. space at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. Skims opened its first store in June 2024, in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C.

Earlier this year, the brand launched a partnership with Nike. The deal marked the first time the athletic giant has teamed up with an outside company to develop and launch a new brand.

Skims was founded online as a shapewear brand, emphasizing body positivity and inclusive sizing. It has since expanded into loungewear, swimwear and menswear.

A fast-growing donut chain is launching a new AI-powered tool to make ordering easier for guests.

Shipley Donuts is rolling out its refreshed website featuring a “first-of-its-kind” AI-powered assistant that creates personalized order recommendations based on individual or group preferences. The ordering assistant provides individualized suggestions and intelligent add-on recommendations with the goal of improving guest experience.

Shipley Donuts says that unlike chatbot interfaces, the ordering assistant creates custom recommendations based on multiple customer factors, including order size, individual flavor preferences and budget parameters. It continues to learn what to offer based on all guest orders, suggesting the most popular donut flavors and other menu items to add to the order.

"The integration of the AI ordering assistant into our refreshed website represents a significant leap forward in how restaurant brands can leverage technology to enhance the customer experience," said Kerry Leo, Shipley Donuts’ VP of technology. "We're not just adding AI for the sake of innovation – we're solving real customer pain points by making ordering more intuitive, personalized and efficient."

Recently, Shipley Donuts, which was acquired by a private equity firm earlier this year, said it had opened 25 new shops so far this year, including eight in the third quarter alone. The company says it is on track to open a record-setting number of new shops in the fourth quarter, including in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Texas. 

[READ MORE: Shipley Donuts on track for 'record-setting' store expansion in 2025]

Founded in 1936, Shipley Donuts, known for handmade fresh daily donuts and kolaches, currently operates more than 385 locations across 14 states. 

A mobile app that streamlines finding and purchasing groceries at the best prices is giving users access to a major online delivery platform.

Initially rolled out in summer 2025, Grocery Dealz uses artificial intelligence technology to provide real-time price comparisons and automate the digital checkout process, linking consumers to their preferred retailer websites to complete their purchases.

[READ MORE: Grocery Dealz app automates real-time price comparisons]

Now, Grocery Dealz is integrating with the Instacart Developer Platform, a publicly available API program enabling third parties to integrate the functionality of Instacart inside their websites and apps, to provide users access to Instacart's same-day delivery service directly from the Grocery Dealz app, with delivery in as fast as one hour.

"Utilizing Instacart's broad reach will provide rapid expansion for Grocery Dealz and help integrate our app into the purchase habits of online grocery shoppers." said Matt Goynes, co-founder & co-CEO of Grocery Dealz.

Through the integration, Grocery Dealz users browsing deals in the app can seamlessly select delivery via Instacart. The integration also expands reach for participating retailers to customers on the Grocery Dealz app.

"Shoppers today expect savings and convenience to go hand in hand," said Goynes. "By integrating with Instacart's Developer Platform, we're giving our users the best of both worlds — access to incredible deals plus the ability to have groceries delivered right to their door."

Grocery Dealz says it will have more announcements of new services and solutions in the near future.