News Briefs

Whole Foods Market is expanding its footprint in both Northern and Southern California.

The natural and organic grocer will open two California stores next month: one at The Village in Elk Grove, Calif., on Sept. 16, and one in downtown San Diego on Sept. 23. The openings will bring Whole Foods' Golden State store total to 95.

Whole Foods says that both stores will feature more than 1,500 local items from California-based suppliers, along with full-service meat and seafood counters, specialty beverage departments offering craft beer and wine, prepared foods and baked goods, a wellness & beauty department and more.

[READ MORE: Numerator: Amazon-Whole Foods cross-shopping rises dramatically]

Founded in 1980, Whole Foods Market serves customers at more than 545 stores across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. 

The expansion in California comes as Amazon is reprioritizing its grocery footprint. The retail giant announced plans at the beginning of the year to close its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores, converting various locations into Whole Foods stores. Amazon plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods locations over the next few years.

A new survey reveals the factors that will make a shopper buy from a branded app instead of a marketplace app.

Two-in-three (66%) of 500 U.S. mobile app shoppers surveyed in July 2026 by marketing platform Rzr said a lower price would encourage them to make a purchase from a retailer or brand’s own app instead of a marketplace app like Amazon. Other top reasons include:

• Free or faster shipping (61%).
• Loyalty points or reward (50%).
• Products I can’t get elsewhere (36%).
• Easy returns (29%).
• Default to marketplace app (3%).

In the last 12 months, 40% of respondents have made a purchase from a marketplace app like Amazon, 38% have made a purchase from a website in their phone’s browser, 11% have made a purchase from a website on a computer, and 5% have made a purchase from a physical store.

When a brand offers both an app and a mobile website, 71% will purchase via the app while 19% will use the mobile website and 9% have no preference. 

[READ MORE: Consumer mobile commerce preferences are changing – here’s how]

Other findings

• Eight-in-10 (79%) respondents are willing to share their preferences or purchase history with a retail app in return for better deals or a smoother experience.
• Six-in-10 respondents make a purchase through a retail or brand app once a week or more.
• Two-in-three respondents have chosen one retailer over another because it had a better app.
• Two-in-three respondents have given up on a mobile purchase because the app or site was hard to use.
• More than one-third (35%) of respondents shop via retailer or brand apps during big sale events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, while 24% use mobile websites and 23% use marketplace apps.  

A longstanding auto services and tire chain officially has new ownership.

The acquisition of The Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack Holding Corp. by Mavis Tire Express Services Corp. for approximately $700 million in cash has been completed. Pep Boys will retain its brand identity as part of the Mavis family of brands.

Icahn Enterprises, which bought Pep Boys in 2016, has retained the owned real estate previously transferred to it from Pep Boys, as well as the AAMCO Transmissions and Precision Tune Auto Care Businesses.

With the addition of nearly 800 Pep Boys locations, the Mavis network now includes more than 4,400 service center locations across the United States and Canada, including a substantially expanded presence across the Western United States.

Based in White Plains, N.Y., Mavis is owned by BayPine LP, Consumer Partners. The company’s banners include Mavis Discount Tire, Mavis Tires & Brakes, Midas, Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers, Brakes Plus, Tire Kingdom, NTB (National Tire & Battery), Town Fair Tire and Tuffy.

[READ MORE: Midas rolls out new 'industrial' and 'urban' shop concepts]

“Closing this transaction marks an important milestone for Mavis and an exciting next chapter for Pep Boys,” said Stephen Sorbaro, co-CEO of Mavis. "Our focus now turns to bringing our organizations together, supporting our technicians and store teams, and building on the strengths of both brands. Together, we have an even greater opportunity to provide customers with dependable service, and I look forward to what’s ahead."

Advisors

Covington & Burling LLP and Bullard Law Group, PLLC served as legal counsel, Jefferies served as exclusive financial advisor, and C Street Advisory Group served as strategic communications advisor to Mavis. Brown Rudnick LLP served as legal counsel to IEP (the parent company of Icahn Enterprises).

Shoppers at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores will have a new streamlined method for making payments.

Beginning Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, Walmart Inc. will be adding tap to pay using Google Pay to its payment options at select Walmart and Sam’s Club stores, with plans to roll it out to all U.S. stores by the end of 2026 and to fuel stations by mid-2027.

Customers will also be able to add their eligible Walmart, Sam's Club and OnePay (a fintech jointly backed by Walmart and investment firm Ribbit Capital previously known as One) cards to their digital wallets. Sam’s Club shoppers can also use the Scan & Go mobile payment solution. 

[READ MORE: Walmart-backed fintech and Synchrony to launch Walmart credit card]

According to Walmart, providing Google Pay tap to pay is part of a broader effort to make it easier for customers to use and manage their money, which also includes high-yield savings accounts, buy now pay later services and a digital wallet with peer-to-peer payments in the OnePay app, as well as making the InComm Payments Vanilla Direct financial network available nationwide at more than 4,700 stores.

In addition, Sam’s Club customers Sam’s have access to to the Sam’s Cash cashback program and Sam’s Club credit, with opportunities to earn Sam’s Cash through qualifying purchases and programs.

“It all comes back to giving customers and members more choice and making everyday shopping a little easier — from how they manage their money to how they pay at checkout,” Walmart said in a corporate blog post.

Private label products are continuing to improve their standing with shoppers.

More than half (58%) of consumers say they don't care whether a product is a national brand or a private label, according to a new report from NielsenIQ (NIQ). Sixty-eight percent of consumers view private label products as a good alternative to national brands, while 69% believe they offer good value for money.

Younger consumers are especially keen on private brands, as 67% of Gen Z consumers believe private label products are just as good as national brands.

NIQ found that roughly one-third of “price-constrained” consumers will switch to lower-priced products or whichever brand is on promotion. The shift in perception towards private brands comes as fast-moving consumer goods prices rose 26% globally between 2021 and 2025, according to the report.

NIQ noted that consumers’ fluid shopping behavior is creating new opportunities for retailers to grow private label offerings beyond traditional value tiers.

[READ MORE: Survey: Labor Day sale shoppers to prioritize essentials]

“This is one of the most significant shifts happening in consumer goods today,” said Ramon Melgarejo, president of e-commerce at NIQ. “Consumers are no longer evaluating products primarily based on who makes them. They are evaluating whether a product delivers the right mix of quality, value, convenience and relevance. That has created a much more democratic and competitive shelf than we've seen historically.”

A technology giant leads all brands in popularity with Gen Z consumers.

When asked to name a brand they are loyal to and would recommend without hesitation, a group of more than 900 Gen Z consumers surveyed by research technology company Rival Technologies most frequently mentioned Apple. The top 10 brands cited most by respondents are:

1. Apple.

2. Nike.

3. Costco, including its Kirkland private label.

4. Adidas.

5. Samsung.

6. Amazon.

7. Lululemon.

8. CeraVe.

9. Starbucks, Uniqlo, Dove, Walmart (tied).

Apple, Nike and Costco were named more often as the next nine brands combined.

Only 11% of respondents say brands understand them "really well," and 45% of respondents say they will be unconditionally loyal to a brand that understands them compared to 5% who say they will be unconditionally loyal to a brand that does not.

[READ MORE: AI is affecting brand loyalty – here’s how]

Other findings

• Almost two-in-three (64%) respondents said they will stick with a brand they like rather than switch based on price or try something new.
• Only 9% of respondents said influencers are a loyalty driver.
• Price and value (82%) and product quality (80%) far outranked alignment with personal values (36%) as factors that influence loyalty.
• Gen Z consumers in the U.S. were nearly three times as likely as those in Canada to say brands understand them "really well" (17% compared with 6%) and about twice as likely to be unconditionally loyal.
• Negative reactions to brand messaging rose from 22% among 18- to 20-year-olds to 34% among 25- to 29-year-olds, while disengagement remained high across every age group.

Rival Technologies surveyed 903 Gen Z participants across the U.S. and Canada, drawn from its proprietary panels, in July 2026.