News

Longtime Walmart executive Tom Coughlin, an inspirational leader who played a key role in Walmart’s growth and left the company in 2005, passed away on April 1.

American Eagle Outfitters is launching another viral marketing campaign, this time with a funny focus on the fight against the body shaming of men.

The retailer is kicking off its #AerieMAN campaign, featuring a mix of quirky male characters of different sizes and personalities sharing "real life" stories in their skivvies. American Eagle's Skinny Skinny Jean and American Beagle Outfitters campaigns were huge successes in 2013 and 2014. Now the brand is focused on raising awareness around body diversity.

There are going to be a lot of happy chickens roaming free in the coming years as retailer after retailer establish dates by which they will offer only cage-free eggs.

Meijer and Supervalu recently announced plans to source only cage-free eggs by 2025, joining Delhaize and Albertson’s who earlier this year set 2025 as their cage-free deadline. Ahold USA earlier this year also indicated it would be cage-free by 2022. Walmart and Costco have also announced cage-free commitments as have some major food suppliers such as Nestle.

J.C. Penney is teaming up with WWE to launch a new line of performance apparel for men and women.

Tapout, a global fitness and training brand recently re-launched by WWE and Authentic Brands Group, is now available in nearly 300 J.C. Penney stores and at jcp.com, with plans to launch a women’s collection this summer.

Ace is the place with the helpful hardware folks and now the retailer is extending its classic motto to the digital realm.

As an independently-owned retail cooperative, Oak Brook, Illinois-based Ace Hardware Corp. operates more than 4,400 stores and a distribution network of 14 retail supply centers (RSCs) across the U.S. The company leverages this physical footprint to help meet the needs of online shoppers.

Sleek. Minimalist. Innovative. Modern.

Those were among the words used most often by mystery shoppers to describe Apple’s next-generation store, located at Shops of Saddle Creek South in Germantown, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis.

The shoppers are part of Field Agent, which provides on-location auditing and research via a network of 650,000 “agents” who collect data that can be monitored in real time by its clients. The company deployed several agents to visit and then review the store. The majority of the comments were glowing:

The Kroger Co. is making a “meaningful” investment in specialty natural/organic grocery chain Lucky’s Market that could expand the supermarket giant’s product assortment.

Kroger did not disclose the size of its stake in Lucky’s, which is based in Boulder, Colorado, and operates 17 stores in 13 states throughout the Midwest and Southeast U.S. Lucky’s stores average 30,000-sq.-ft. and are laid out to resemble an indoor farmers market, and also offer an assortment of prepared foods.

No, Trader Joe’s is not closing, and GrubHub is not launching a new ride share service called “Gruber.”

These are just two of the many fake news announcements circulating this April 1, a day traditionally dedicated to pranks and jokes. The retail-related April Fools hoax that by far has gotten the most attention, a false report that organic grocer Trader Joe’s would shutter all stores and discontinue all branded products by 2017, was actually released March 31.

In a move that will directly impact retail and fast-food chains, California legislatures approved a plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022, which will give the state the highest minimum wage in the nation. The measure will be signed into law on Monday by California Gov. Jerry Brown.

Featuring 250 boutiques and designers from the U.S. and Canada, online marketplace site Garmentory connects brick-and-mortar boutiques and emerging designers to shoppers all over the globe via their online platform and mobile site, according to a CNBC.com report.