News Briefs

Another retail giant has launched a holiday meal deal ahead of Thanksgiving.

Target’s holiday meal for four is back again this year, but this time at its lowest price ever, according to the retailer. For under $20, or less than $5 per person, guests can enjoy a full-course Thanksgiving meal, featuring turkey, potatoes, stuffing, pie and more from national brands as well as Target’s Good & Gather and Favorite Day private label brands. Target is offering the Good & Gather turkey at its 2024 price of 79 cents per pound.

Last month, several major grocery players, including Walmart, Sam’s Club and Aldi, all announced similarly low-priced Thanksgiving meals.

"What I love about Target during the holidays is our ability to help families celebrate in style while spending less – and that's exactly what we're doing this Thanksgiving," said Lisa Roath, executive VP and chief merchandising officer of food, essentials and beauty at Target. "Our under-$20 Thanksgiving meal is priced even lower than last year's, but we're not stopping there. We also have new seasonal sides, stylish table décor, festive apparel and beautiful greenery and florals. Put it all together and Target's making it an absolute joy for everyone to create an elevated, unforgettable Thanksgiving experience."

Ahead of Thanksgiving, Target shoppers can also take advantage of the retailer's flexible fulfillment services for quicker options, including Same Day Delivery, Drive Up and Order Pickup available within hours, plus Next-Day Delivery or 2-Day Shipping for free with orders above $35.

[READ MORE: Target's holiday plans include in-store events, deals — return of ‘hot’ Santa]

Minneapolis-based Target operates nearly 2,000 stores nationwide.

An app known as "Refundly" tracks and manages online returns and refunds across all U.S. retailers.

Currently available for iOS devices and launched in advance of the holiday shopping season, Refundly uses proprietary AI technology to scan users' email receipts, identify returns, and track each step, from initiation to reimbursement.

Designed by veterans in the retail, e-commerce, entertainment, and technology industries, Refundly says it is the only app that tracks and manages online returns across all U.S. retailers and alerts users the moment their refund is credited to their credit card.

[READ MORE: NRF: Consumers expected to return nearly $850B in merchandise in 2025]

"Each year, consumers return hundreds of billions in merchandise, but a portion of that money never makes it back to them," said Lindsay Goffman, co-founder and CEO of Refundly. "The system was built to send purchases from retailers to shoppers – not the other way around. Refundly puts the power back in the hands of consumers, while helping retailers strengthen relationships with their customers."

In the coming months, Refundly plans to expand to offer retailers new engagement tools, such as exclusive, personalized promotions once refunds are processed.

During its stealth phase, Refundly analyzed return and refund patterns across 120 major online retailers and reported finding a 7.5% error rate, representing mistakes such as incorrect fees or missing refunds. Overall, 4% of refund amounts were never returned, representing what the company says is a potential $14 billion unreturned consumer funds.

Lindsay Goffman co-founded the company with her husband Mark Goffman (COO) and Mark Mucchetti (CTO, formerly BeautyCounter and Meta). According to Refundly, early adopters have included professional stylists, parents, and small business owners who frequently buy, return, and track purchases online. The company is also part of the Google Cloud startup program.

Retailers report an inventory accuracy problem, but have identified a primary solution.

Persistent inventory inaccuracy is undermining the trust between retailers and the consumer brands that fill their shelves, according to research from IHL Group. The majority (67%) of major U.S. retailers face daily or weekly relationship challenges with consumer brands due to inventory inaccuracy.

The retail industry loses $1.73 trillion annually due to inventory distortion (the cost of out-of-stocks and overstocks).  A new study conducted by IHL Group in partnership with autonomous technology company Brain Corp. indicates robotics is the top-ranked solution to improve inventory accuracy, ahead of devices such as handheld RFID, mobile image capture, fixed cameras, or barcode scanners.

In addition, 72% of more than 200 retailers surveyed for “The Shelf Intelligence Report: Rebuilding Retail Relationships Through Automation” study are ready to deploy in-store robots, with 60% already planning deployment by the end of 2027 and two-in-three preferring not to own or manage an inventory scanning robot themselves.

[READ MORE: Southeastern Grocers tests ‘one-of-a-kind’ robot subscription service]

Other findings from the study are below.

• 47% of retailers say their inventory inaccuracies have led to reduced engagements with consumer brands.
• The largest respondents with more than $5 billion in annual revenue are 87% more likely to identify strained brand relationships as a major consequence of inventory inaccuracies.
• Half of respondents report lost sales and 47% cite customer dissatisfaction as a result of inventory execution failures.
• Fewer than one-in-four respondents achieve more than 80% accuracy in key shelf metrics such as on-shelf availability, planogram compliance, and promotional execution. 

"Retail doesn’t just have an operations problem when it comes to inventory, it has a trust problem," said Greg Buzek, president of IHL Group. "Our research shows that many retailers still lack a clear, consistent view of on-shelf conditions. That visibility gap undermines confidence across the value chain, including the trust consumer brands place in retail partners."

An East Coast grocery banner is undergoing a major store renovation project.

North Carolina-based Food Lion, part of the Ahold Delhaize USA family of retailers, is remodeling more than 150 stores in the greater Charlotte area, including towns and cities in both North and South Carolina, as part of a $484 million investment.

The store remodels will offer guests a greater product assortment, including a greater focus on ready-to-eat and prepared meals and Fresh & Simple private label offerings. The investment will also add self-checkout lanes to nearly all of the 153 stores.

[READ MORE: Ahold Delhaize USA banners manage made-to-order with Instacart]

“Charlotte is a special market for us because it’s our hometown,” said Greg Finchum, president of Food Lion. “Every enhancement is designed to meet our customers’ evolving needs – whenever, wherever and however they shop with us. Our associates are excited to welcome our customers into our refreshed stores and highlight what’s new. We’re proud to continue nourishing our towns and cities while delivering an easy and affordable omnichannel shopping experience customers count on from Food Lion.”

Last month, Ahold Delhaize USA announced plans to build an $860 million “state-of-the-art” distribution center in Burlington, N.C. to supply its East Coast stores. Construction on the new facility is expected to begin in 2026, with an anticipated start of operations in 2029.

Food Lion operates more than 1,100 stores across 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. The grocer employs more than 82,000 associates.

Walmart is continuing to dominate as America’s leading grocery retailer.

Walmart captured 21.0% of total U.S. grocery spend for the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, 2025, according to new omnichannel sales data from Numerator. This is roughly on par with its share for the same period over the last two years (21.1% and 21.2% in 2024 and 2023, respectively).

Behind Walmart is Kroger (8.5%), Costco (8.2%), Albertsons (4.9%) and Publix (4.1%) when it comes to grocery spending share. Kroger saw a slight decrease from 8.8% in 2024, while Costco saw a slight increase from 8.0% last year. Albertsons and Publix both remained flat. 

Another recent report from Numerator revealed that for the same 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2025, Walmart captured 26.1% of SNAP shoppers’ annual grocery spend. SNAP shoppers spend an average of $2,653 at the retailer annually.

[READ MORE: Placer.ai: Grocery shopping continues to rise at Dollar General]

Bath & Body Works has made two executive leadership appointments.

The personal care and home fragrance company has appointed Maly Bernstein as chief commercial officer and Samantha Charleston as chief human resources officer, both effective Nov. 12. Both will join the executive leadership team and report to CEO Daniel Heaf. 

Bernstein was previously CEO at Macy's Inc.-owned Bluemercury, leaving in May after four years at the helm. Prior to Bluemercury, she spent eight years at CVS Health, where she led e-commerce and omnichannel through high-growth during COVID, and before that, the multi-billion dollar beauty and personal care division.

Charleston joins Bath & Body Works from Americold, where she served as chief human resources officer. In that role, Charleston successfully led the transformation of a 15,000-employee global workforce that drove business growth through technology, organizational simplification snd M&A integration, according to a Bath & Body Works statement. 

[READ MORE: Bath & Body Works’ holiday campaign includes scenting NYC subway, movie theaters]

Bath & Body Works has 1,904 company-operated stores in the U.S. and Canada and 537 international franchised locations.