News Briefs

GameStop Corp. is offering on-demand delivery through a new collaboration.

The video game retailer is now enabling customers to order its full physical product assortment, including video games as well as collectibles, from its stores nationwide through Uber Eats .

To place an Uber Eats delivery order, GameStop customers can open the Uber Eats app and go to the "retail" or "electronics" category and then earch for GameStop and browse its product selection. Shoppers can add their items, choose a scheduled or on-demand delivery time, and place their order with real-time delivery tracking.

GameStop is the latest retailer outside of Uber Eats’ core food service vertical to enter an online delivery partnership with the Uber subsidiary. These new partnerships are part of a continuing effort by Uber Eats to expand its delivery services outside food service, including skincare, shipping supplies, art materials, sporting goods and pet supplies. 

[READ MORE: Retailers including Academy Sports, FedEx Office team with Uber Eats]

GameStop, which has been financially struggling, recently reported a surprisingly strong first quarter that included the highest quarterly net income and the highest first-quarter operating income in its history, with rising sales of collectibles a key factor.

GameStop is also in the midst of making an unsolicited attempt to acquire eBay Inc., which has been rejected by eBay.

"Whether they're replacing a controller before game night, picking up the latest game release on launch day, or grabbing a last-minute gift, consumers increasingly expect gaming essentials and collectibles to be available on-demand," said Hashim Amin, head of grocery and retail for Uber in North America. "Adding GameStop to Uber Eats strengthens our growing gaming and electronics selection, giving customers access to another trusted retailer they can shop with the speed and convenience they know from Uber."

The two largest online payment platforms may be merging to form a digital payments behemoth that would handle close to $4 trillion in annual transactions.

Stripe is partnering with private equity firm Advent International to make an acquisition offer worth more than $53 billion for PayPal Holdings Inc., according to a report from MarketScreener following up on initial reporting from Reuters.

The offer, said to have been submitted earlier in July 2026, would value PayPal at $60.50 per share, a roughly 28% premium from a recent stock valuation, and reportedly includes committed financing of roughly $50 billion from multiple banks. If the companies merge, they would form a leading digital payment platform responsible for the processing of $3.7 trillion in annual transactions.

Stripe and Advent would reportedly each take 50% ownership of PayPal under terms of the offer, which PayPal is said to have not yet responded to. None of the companies has issued an official statement.

In the past year or so, PayPal has taken steps to integrated leading-edge technologies with its platform, including enabling ChatGPT users to check out instantly using its services, as well as enabling retailers on its network to become discoverable within the Perplexity generative AI model. 

[READ MORE: PayPal to let users pay for their purchases within ChatGPT]

In July 2025, PayPal introduced a service enabling instant crypto to stablecoin or fiat conversions for U.S. retailers to accept payments globally across more than 100 cryptocurrencies and wallets such as Coinbase and MetaMask.

Stripe, a privately-held company, received a valuation of close to $160 billion in a tender offer it made to buy back shares from current and former employees in February 2026. Investors including Thrive Capital, Coatue, and a16z, as well as Stripe using its own capital, backed the offer. 

Chain Store Age will provide updates on this story as they become available.

A new analysis reveals that retail continues to outperform the broader commercial real estate market.

Pricing strengthened across nearly every major asset class, but retail remained the market's strongest performer, with sale prices per square foot increasing 15.1% year over year and asking prices climbing 4.6% year over year, according to the Crexi National Commercial Real Estate Report for June 2026. 

[READ MORE: JLL: Manhattan retail vacancies at record low; Q2 signings include…]

Retail sale cap rates compressed seven basis points year over year to 6.42%, and properties sold more quickly compared to June 2025, with days on market down 10.0% year over year. Crexi noted that the combination of rising pricing, cap rate compression and faster transaction velocity reflects continued investor demand for high-quality retail assets. 

A recent JLL report found that nearly two-thirds (64%) of investors plan to ramp up their retail acquisitions this year, while only 48% expect to sell more.

“June’s data suggests commercial real estate is entering a new phase of the recovery,” said Adam Siegel, VP of product growth at Crexi. “Rather than being driven by dramatic shifts in pricing or capital markets, we’re seeing a more disciplined environment emerge, one where buyers and sellers are increasingly aligned on valuations. Retail continues to outperform thanks to strong tenant demand and limited new supply.”

Crexi’s June 2026 report tracks sale pricing, asking pricing, cap rates, lease rates and days on market across retail, office, industrial and multi-family, along with median cap rate trends across major MSAs.

The world’s largest sporting goods retailer is automating store-level price management.

France-based Decathlon has implemented the Vusion digital platform at 700 stores in 54 countries spanning the Europe, South America, and Asia-Pacific regions. Decathlon leverages the Vusion solution to automate price management via instant, synchronized price updates on linked electronic shelf labels (ESLs). 

"Thanks to ESLs, we have further enhanced the in-store experience while improving our operational efficiency,” said Xavier Dété, VP innovation, Decathlon. “Deploying connected shelf labels at scale enables us to focus on our core mission: advising and supporting our sports customers. This project delivers immediate, tangible benefits for both our store teams and consumers." 

From a technical perspective, Decathlon utilizes Vusion's cloud platform. The ESLs connect natively and securely to the retailer's existing Cisco Meraki network infrastructure, enabling deployment without requiring any additional networking hardware.

[READ MORE: Walmart de Mexico to deploy ESLs at scale]

Beyond productivity gains for store associates, who no longer need to manually replace paper price tags, Decathlon has found that digital shelf management has almost eliminated discrepancies between the shelf price and the price charged at checkout, which the retailer says directly contributes to higher customer satisfaction across its store network.

"We are particularly proud to support Decathlon, a global retail leader highly valued by its customers and recognized for both the strength of its brand and its commitment to sustainability,” said Sébastien Fourcy, senior executive VP EMEA, Vusion. “This large-scale partnership demonstrates our ability to support leading global retailers and industrialize our cutting-edge solutions in the demanding sporting goods sector—a high-potential market where Vusion continues to strengthen its leadership position.”

Headquartered in Villeneuve d'Ascq, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France, Decathlon operates more than 1,700 stores in 60 countries around the world, as well as a U.S. e-commerce site.

A member of Ulta Beauty's board of directors is moving into a C-suite role.

Kelly Garcia has been appointed as the company’s next chief technology officer, effective Aug. 31. He has been a member of the board of directors since 2022, and will resign from that position effective as of his start date as technology chief.

Most recently, Garcia served as the executive VP and chief technology officer of Domino’s Pizza, a role he held since July 2012 and where he was responsible for developing and implementing strategic technology initiatives to support and improve the business globally.

Prior to joining Domino’s, Garcia was VP of business intelligence and North American operations for automotive business and marketing information provider R. L. Polk & Company.

[READ MORE: Ulta Beauty to open Times Square flagship; Q1 sales, earnings beat Street]

“Kelly has been an impactful member of our board of directors, providing valuable business insights and technology expertise, including perspectives on emerging technologies such as AI, and we are excited to enhance our executive team with his leadership as our new CTO,” said Ulta CEO Kecia Steelman. “With more than 25 years of leadership and broad experience across global e-commerce, customer loyalty, digital innovation and cybersecurity, Kelly will be a great addition to our team as we continue to advance our technology capabilities and execute our Ulta Beauty Unleashed strategy to drive market share growth and deliver long-term value for all our stakeholders.”

Garcia’s appointment is one of a few recent changes to Ulta’s C-suite. In March, the company promoted veteran Kristin Wolf to the newly-created chief strategy & growth officer role. Last fall, Ulta named Christopher DelOrefice as its finance chief.

Founded in 1990, Ulta Beauty operates more than 1,500 stores across the U.S., along with a growing international footprint.

While much of the nation swelters under a heat wave, The Home Depot is thinking cooler temperatures — and Halloween.

The home improvement giant is launching its 2026 Halloween collection online and on its app on July 16, followed by an in-store rollout in August. The assortment has been enhanced with new larger-than-life items, interactive technology and customizable features.

Headlining the collection is Home Depot’s iconic giant-sized skeleton (“Skelly”). The popular 12-ft. figure has been enhanced with new app-enabled upgrades that let owners customize head and mouth movements with servo motors, speak in real time via Bluetooth, record up to 30 sounds and choose from 20 different LCD “LifeEyes” effects. (The original, non-tech Skelly is also available.)

The retailer has expanded its roster of giants with an 11-ft. mummy, which features motion-activated LED illumination, poseable shoulders to adjust the reach and customizable wrappings. Another new offering is an 8-ft. animated “perilous plant monster,” which startles passersby motion-triggered head movements and glowing LED features.

The collection also boasts a new outdoor display, "Wicked Woods Animated LED Evil Pixie," that has three synchronized animatronic movements complemented by three haunting sound effects and glowing red LED eyes.

“We are constantly inspired by the inventive spirit of the Halloween enthusiast community, and their year-round passion motivates us to push the boundaries of innovation in our collection each year," said Aubrey Horowitz, decorative holiday merchant at The Home Depot. "This year is no different. From our realistically detailed collections to dynamic interactive technology like the upgraded Skelly's real-time, app-controlled voice modulation, we are giving our customers the tools to create their most captivating displays yet."