News Briefs
- 7/17/2026
Convenience retailer Jacksons Food Stores upgrading loyalty program
A regional Western convenience store retailer located in gas stations is attempting to make its loyalty offering more personalized and engaging.
Jacksons Food Stores, which operates more than 300 Chevron-, Shell-, and Texaco-branded locations in seven Western states, is deploying the Par Technology retail platform to support the transformation of its “Let’s Go Rewards” customer loyalty program.
Leveraging Par’s intelligence layer, Jacksons Food Stores is upgrading Let’s Go Rewards in an effort to support more relevant, personalized communications while maintaining a familiar experience for customers. The retailer will utilize the Par solution to analyze and act upon more customer signals to help deliver greater relevance and stronger engagement.
“Jacksons has built a strong loyalty program by staying focused on what matters most to their customers,” said Todd Michael, senior VP of merchandising & marketing, Jacksons Food Stores. “As we look ahead, Par Retail gives us the foundation we need to continue evolving Let’s Go Rewards, strengthening personalization, and ensuring the program can grow alongside our business.”
RaceWay, an operator of more than 240 franchised RaceTrac convenience/fuel store stores, also built its new RaceWay Rewards loyalty program on the Par Technology Par Retail platform to support personalized rewards and tailored offers.
[READ MORE: RaceTrac franchisor RaceWay debuts new loyalty program]
"Jacksons has spent decades building the kind of loyalty that can't be manufactured," said Savneet Singh, CEO of Par Technology. "The challenge is knowing what to do with it across 300 locations. PAR Retail gives their team the intelligence to act on it. Not just to run a better program, but to actually make better decisions for every customer, at every store."
(Photo: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com)
- 7/17/2026
Report: More leadership changes at Walmart
Walmart continues to remake its leadership team under CEO John Furner, who took the reins of the company in February.
Kieran Shanahan, COO for Walmart U.S., is stepping down from the role, reported The Wall Street Journal, citing an internal memo. Shanahan, who has served in the position since August 2023, will be succeeded by 25-year company veteran Kyle Kinnard, currently COO for Walmart International. Shanahan will remain at the company as an advisor through the end of Walmart’s fiscal year on January 31, 2027.
Kinnard will continue serving as chair on the board for Walmart de México y Centroamérica. Juan Galarraga has been promoted to executive VP and regional general manager for the Latin America business in Walmart International, according to the report.
Kinnard’s appointment comes on the heels of multiple leadership changes at the retail giant under Furner. In June, Walmart's membership warehouse club division, Sam’s Club, named Steve Schrobilgen as incoming COO and executive VP following the retirement of Tom Ward. Ward’s retirement was revealed in May, along with the departure of Cedric Clark, Walmart’s executive VP of U.S. store operations.
Based in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. runs 10,900 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.
- 7/17/2026
Adobe: Here’s when online back-to-school spending will peak
Back-to-school shoppers are increasing their digital activity but won’t hit maximum levels for a few weeks.
In an email to Chain Store Age, Adobe said that online back-to-school shopping is expected to continue ramping up in the weeks ahead. For the last two weeks of July 2026 (July 15-31), Adobe anticipates online sales lift to be around 1.5x higher than early July levels.
Online back-to-school spending is expected to peak in the first two weeks of August 2026 (Aug. 1-14), set to be 2x higher than early July levels)., according to Adobe analysis.
July findings
From July 1-14 (the first two weeks of the month), Adobe observed online sales lift compared to average sales levels in June in the following categories:
- School uniforms: up 190%
- Kid’s apparel: up 185%.
- Binders: up 180%
- Backpacks: up 130%.
- Lunchboxes: up 175%
- Calculators: up 135%
- Writing utensils: up 75%
Adobe also analyzed online back-to-school shopping data post-July 4 (July 5-14), o see if it has been accelerating in recent days. The data shows it has across most of those same categories. From July 5 to 14:
- School uniforms: up 325%
- Lunchboxes: up 275%
- Binders: up 255%
- Calculators: up 185%
- Kid’s apparel: up 180%
- Writing utensils: up 125%
- Backpacks: up 115%
[READ MORE: NRF: Back-to-school shoppers prioritize value; many waiting for ‘best’ deals]
- 7/16/2026
Sheetz migrates to new store virtualization platform
A Pennsylvania-based regional convenience store operator is replacing legacy edge computing infrastructure at its stores.
Sheetz is deploying the StorMagic SvHCI hyperconverged infrastructure platform across its more than 830 store locations. The retailer has already completed migrations at more than 600 stores, averaging 200 stores per month, and expects to complete the rollout in a four-month timeframe.
The migration is being completed remotely, allowing Sheetz to simplify its software stack across its store footprint while reducing cost, complexity and operational disruption. The retailer had previously deployed the StorMagic svSAN solution as the hyperconverged storage layer with its legacy store infrastructure platform across hundreds of store locations to virtualize critical in-store applications, improve resiliency and simplify edge infrastructure management.
By replacing multiple single-purpose systems with a single two-node HCI architecture, Sheetz intends to reduced hardware complexity, accelerate deployments and created a scalable and available platform to support business-critical services including payment processing, loyalty programs and store operations.
"Our initial rollout proved StorMagic could deliver the resilience and centralized management needed across a large distributed retail environment," said Gary Silver, director of platform engineering, Sheetz. "StorMagic worked to understand our needs and requirements, to include a 24/7/365 operating environment, and ultimately delivered a product and plan that is allowing us to migrate hundreds of locations from our previous solution quickly and with minimal downtime, without requiring hardware replacements or having to send technicians to every site. This project is proof that large-scale edge migrations don't have to be disruptive, drawn-out or scary affairs."
[READ MORE: Sheetz to enter Indiana]
Founded in 1952, Sheetz currently operates more than 830 stores across its seven-state footprint, which currently includes Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and Michigan. Sheetz also plans to build 100 store locations over the next 10 years in Indiana.
- 7/16/2026
Survey: AI becoming mainstream shopping tool among consumers
Consumers are increasingly using artificial intelligence tools in their shopping routines.
Roughly 70% of consumers say they shop with AI today and plan to use it even more in the future, according to a new survey from marketing agency LDWW. Nearly two-thirds noted that AI influenced a recent purchase decision.
A recent report from Numerator revealed just 2% of variation in AI acceptance among generations, with Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and baby boomers embracing the technology for different reasons.
While the adoption is growing, consumers are still being cautious about getting reliable information from AI. LDWW’s survey found that over half actively check the citations provided by AI, and nearly 60% say it is important to know what sources are used to form AI answers.
Nearly one-in-five Americans say AI tools are the most trustworthy source they use to shop, with 43% trusting the brand information they encounter on platforms.
“For a large share of Americans, AI is expanding from a simple research tool into a trusted shopping resource on par with online reviews and personal recommendations,” noted LDWW. “At the same time, consumers are reporting a 'trust but verify' approach, paying close attention to where AI gets its information.”
[READ MORE: AI-based shopping is coming of age — here's how]
The LDWW Consumer AI Survey was conducted in late February 2026 among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. adults
- 7/16/2026
Wayfair gets jump on Black Friday starting July 23
Wayfair is once again hosting an omnichannel “Black Friday in July” sales promotion.
The five-day sale brings what Wayfair says will be “holiday-level” savings across every home category. From July 23-27, 2026, Wayfair is offering five full days of savings across its entire e-commerce site, including markdowns on thousands of Wayfair Verified items hand-vetted for quality by product specialists.
In addition, starting Monday, July 20, there will be early deals inclusive of 24-hour deals, as well as exclusive early discounts for Wayfair Rewards loyalty members and app users.
Starting July 23, limited quantity doorbusters will be available in-store and online, and thousands of 24-hour online flash deals will drop throughout the event. Exclusive in-store offers will also start July 23, and family-friendly activities, raffles and giveaways will take place all weekend long at Wayfair stores in Chicago, Atlanta, and Columbus, Ohio.
In-store offers will also be available at all AllModern, Birch Lane and Joss & Main banner locations. Wayfair will provide free shipping sitewide throughout all five days, with many items available for free white glove delivery — fully assembled and delivered to the customer’s room of choice. Members of the Wayfair Professional program for trade and business customers will also have access to exclusive pro-only deals on thousands of products.
Wayfair also hosted “Black Friday in July” in 2025, and as is the case this year the promotion followed Amazon Prime Day rather than compete with it.
[READ MORE: Wayfair hosting post-Prime Day sales event]
"We are excited to bring Black Friday savings to the summer, offering our customers some of our most significant deals of the entire year," said Jon Blotner, president of commercial and operations at Wayfair.
Show More