News Briefs

Women’s fashion brand Varley is entering the U.S. retail space with its first brick-and-mortar store.

Opening this fall, the 2,200-sq.-ft. Varley store will be located in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, marking a milestone as the brand’s first location outside of London. The assortment found at the new location will include Varley’s core collection, Varley Club and Varley Active.

“We are excited to be bringing Varley to life in the heart of New York City,” said Ben Mead, co-founder & CEO of Varley. “Our brand has a strong customer base in the US market, and we are looking forward to offering shoppers the opportunity to be physically immersed in the world of Varley.”

Founded in 2015 by Lara and Ben Mead, Varley has grown into an international family-run business with over 1000 wholesale partners worldwide, as well as offices in London, Los Angeles and New York. The brand operates two stores in London, the King's Road flagship and the recently opened location in Marylebone.

The brand says that each physical location aims to "create an immersive shopping experience, bringing consumers into the world of Varley, delivering elevated essentials for how the modern woman lives and moves."

Walmart’s hold on the grocery market continues to grow.

The retail giant captured 21.4% of grocery dollar share during the past year (4/1/2023 – 3/31/2024), up from 20.7% in the year-ago period (4/1/2022 - 3/31/2023) and 20% in the year before that (4/1/2021-3/31/2022), according to Numerator, which publishes the latest grocery market share data by retailer to understand where consumers are choosing to spend their grocery dollars. 

Kroger was a distant second, with an 8.8% share, down from 9.3% last year and 9.7% the year before that.

Costco Wholesale Corp. took third place, with an 8.2% share, up from 7.9% last year and 7.8% the year before.

Albertsons had a 5.4% market share, compared to 5.7% last year and 5.6% the year before that.

Sam’s Club took fifth place. The Walmart-owned membership warehouse club accounted for a 4.3% share, up from 4.2% last year and 4.1% the year before.

Academy Sports + Outdoors continues to expand into new markets. 

The full-line sporting goods and outdoor recreation retailer has opened its first store in Ohio. Located in Zanesville, the approximately 54,000-sq.-ft. store offers a wide assortment of athletic and casual shoes, sports and outdoors equipment, and clothing from both leading national brands and a portfolio of private label brands. 

The new location is the third store Academy has opened in 2024. The retailer plans to continue its expansion efforts with the goal of opening 15 to 17 stores in its fiscal 2024 year, with a total of 160 to 180 new stores over the next five years.

Featuring a localized merchandising strategy, Academy also offers free in-store services such as grill and bike assembly, scope mounting and line winding/spooling. Customers can also purchase hunting and fishing licenses in the store.

Academy operates 285 stores across 19 states.

Mall of America is gearing up to host a tribute concert for one of Minnesota’s most famous musicians.

"Reign: Celebrating Minnesota Music Royalty," a concert featuring Chase & Ovation, known as “the world’s premier Prince tribute band,” is slated to take place at the Huntington Bank Rotunda on Tuesday, June 25 from 5 - 10 p.m. The concert lands on the 40-year anniversary of Prince’s classic 1984 pop/rock album “Purple Rain.”

Known for their 17-year legacy of live Prince cover performances, Chase & Ovation is the main act for the concert, which will also include performances from Cassandra Cole, Jojo Green, and Nur-D, each bringing their unique take on Prince classics to the stage.

“This event is a celebration of Minnesota music by local musicians,” said Chris Grap, VP of experiential at Mall of America. "We’re proud to partner with these great acts to celebrate our rich history of music on this historic date. Our team is dedicated to providing exceptional year-round events, and we're excited to showcase the talents of Minnesota's finest for our guests to enjoy.”

Ticket options for the all-ages event range from VIP seating to general admission standing room on the ground floor. VIP ticket holders receive a drink ticket and a Mall of America fanny pack.

At 5.6 million sq. ft., Mall of America, located in Bloomington, Minn., is the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America with up to 520 world-class retail stores and restaurants, and several entertainment attractions.

After six years, Walmart is changing how it manages its store credit card program.

Walmart is ending a long-term agreement it entered with Capital One Financial Corp. in 2018 that made Capital One the exclusive issuer of the discount giant’s consumer credit cards. In September 2019, the companies introduced the Capital One Walmart Rewards Credit Card Program.

The program offers two cards – the Capital One Walmart Rewards Mastercard and a private-label card exclusively for Walmart purchases, the Walmart Rewards Card. The co-branded Mastercard offers a number of digital-first features.

While Capital One and Walmart have ended their card partnership, the companies said that nothing is changing immediately for cardholders, who can continue to earn and redeem rewards. In addition, previously accrued rewards will retain their value. 

Until informed otherwise, Walmart and Capital One said that cardholders can also continue to use their Capital One Walmart Rewards Card wherever Mastercard is accepted and the Walmart Rewards Card for purchases at Walmart.

Capital One will retain ownership and servicing of the credit card accounts. Additional information will be provided in the coming months to Walmart credit card holders.

Headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. operates approximately 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.

U.S. consumer sentiment fell to its lowest reading in about five months in May. 

The University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment dropped to 69.1 in May from 77.2 in April. The reading, however, was slightly higher than the preliminary estimate of 67.4. 

Sentiment also remains almost 20% above a year ago and about 40% above the all-time historic low in June 2022, “reflecting how much consumer views have improved as inflation eased,” noted Joanne Hsu, director, surveys of consumers, University of Michigan.

Consumers’ views of current economic conditions also fell in May, down to 69.6 in May from 79 in April. The outlook for the next six months fell to 68.8 from 76 in April. 

“Consumers expressed particular concern over labor markets,” stated Hsu. “They expect unemployment rates to rise and income growth to slow.” 

The prospect of continued high interest rates also weighed down consumer views, she added.

“These deteriorating expectations suggest that multiple factors pose downside risk for consumer spending,” she said. Still, sentiment remains almost 20% above a year ago and about 40% above the all-time historic low in June 2022, reflecting how much consumer views have improved as inflation eased. 

Year-ahead inflation expectations edged up from 3.2% last month to 3.3% this month, remaining above the 2.3-3.0% range seen in the two years prior to the pandemic. Long-run inflation expectations held steady at 3.0% for the second straight month.

Although they have been within the narrow 2.9-3.1% range for 30 of the last 34 months, long-run inflation expectations remain elevated relative to the 2.2-2.6% range seen in the two years pre-pandemic.