News Briefs

The off-price division of Saks Global is downsizing its store portfolio.

Saks Off 5th will close nine of its 79 stores in early 2026  (list of locations at end of article.) The news was first reported by WWD. The shutterings come as Nordstrom is expanding the footprint of its off-price division, Nordstrom Rack, which continues to add stores to its 2026/2027 lineup.

In addition, and as previously reported, the Saks Off 5th store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan will close at the end of the 2025 holiday season. The property has been sold to a new owner who plans to undertake extensive construction on the site.

“As part of our ongoing and comprehensive strategy, we have taken a critical eye to our store footprint and will be closing select store locations in early 2026,” a spokesperson said in a statement in the WWD report. “We are confident this will better position the Saks Off 5th business for long-term success and look forward to continuing to deliver for our customers.”

Here are the locations of the Saks Off 5th stores scheduled to next year, according to the report:

• Austin, Texas;
• Chicago;
• Washington, D.C.;
• Philadelphia Mills, Pa.;
• Pittsburgh North, Pa.
• Plymouth Meeting, Pa.;
• East Hanover, N.J.;
• Niagara Falls, N.Y.; and
• West Hartford, Conn.

While U.S. job postings are nearly on track with pre-pandemic levels, the retail category is continuing to see declines.

According to the Indeed Hiring Lab’s Job Posting Index, job postings were 2.4% above the Feb. 1, 2020, measure as of Oct. 10, 2025. Job postings have declined 8.5% from the same time last year, as employers continue to pull back on hiring amid a high level of economic uncertainty. Retail job postings continued to decline, seeing a 16% year-over-year drop compared to last October.

Indeed Hiring Lab found retail wage growth increased slightly to 2.4% compared to January 2019 levels, surpassing that of food preparation & service, which fell to 2.1% in September 2025.

[READ MORE: Survey: Automation attracts warehouse workers — here's why]

“The retail vertical slogged through the third quarter without much change from previous trends,” said Daniel Culbertson, senior economist with Indeed Hiring Lab. “Job postings in all three categories continued to drop and are now all below their pre-pandemic level. Wage growth trends are mostly stable but have swapped places after a slight decline in food preparation & service and a slight pickup in retail.”

Indeed Hiring Lab analyzes the latest Indeed data each quarter to provide labor market insights for the transportation, retail, business-to-business, tech, and healthcare sectors. 

Doug McMillon’s retirement appears to be part of a planned succession, as John Furner has been widely viewed as his likely successor. 

While his departure comes on the heels of a volatile year for many retailers, Walmart’s performance has been a clear outlier. [Doug McMillon will retire as CEO of Walmart Inc. on Jan. 31. He will be succeeded by John Furner, CEO of Walmart U.S.]

The consistency of its foot traffic and its proven ability to attract visitors from trade areas with household incomes exceeding $100,000 show that the chain has weathered the macroeconomic headwinds better than most.”

The most notable change during McMillon’s tenure has been Walmart’s evolution into a major e-commerce company, driven by significant investments in its logistics infrastructure and the Walmart+ subscription platform.”

Stabilizing Force

McMillon was a stabilizing force at Walmart, helping the company navigate intense competition from Amazon and other online retailers, continual shifts in consumer behavior, a global pandemic, and recent inflationary pressures. 

From an operational standpoint, McMillon was behind many key investments, including higher wages for store associates, robust e-commerce infrastructure, and a more agile supply chain. He also understood Walmart’s crucial role in the broader retail landscape and consistently challenged suppliers to provide the best possible pricing for consumers.

R.J. Hottovy is head of analytical research at Placer.ai. He has covered the restaurant, retail, and e-commerce sectors for 20 years as an equity analyst and strategist for Morningstar, William Blair & Co., and Deutsche Bank. R.J.

The Kroger Co.’s retail media business is launching several capabilities designed to provide advertisers a faster view of customer behavior.

Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM), the retail media business of Kroger running on its 84.51˚ data analytics subsidiary, is releasing self-serve enhancements to CPG brand partners’ visibility into how customers react to their ads.

[READ MORE: Exclusive Q&A: Kroger Precision Marketing bets on managed services]

Currently, users of the 84.51˚ Stratum self-serve advertiser analytics solution have access to Agent Monday, a weekly artificial intelligence-based summary of brand performance. Delivered to users’ inboxes every Monday morning, this customized digest offers insights designed to highlight key performance trends and shifts in customer behavior. 

In early 2026, brands will also be able to use:

• Consolidated dashboards. With flexible selectors, integrated visualizations and same-day custom attributes and custom segmentations, a new consolidated dashboard will streamline insights discovery for brands on 84.51˚ Stratum.

• Self-service data orders. A new self-service capability for brands using the Data Direct daily POS data solution will enable themto extract retail data tailored to their precise business needs. Through a user interface, brands will be able to connect data outputs into dashboards, enrich data lakes with their own additional context, and support advanced modeling while only paying for the data they use.

"Consumer trends change faster than ever, and brands need solutions like this to stay nimble," said Christine Foster, senior VP of Kroger Precision Marketing, "By applying more automation and AI, we’re making it fast and easy for brands to identify growth opportunities from first-party retail data."

As part of the rollout, KPM is offering a beta program where select users are exploring new features early, providing feedback and helping shape future development.

Michaels' holiday plans include the opportunity for families to get creative together.

The arts-and-crafts retailer will host free in-store events every Saturday in December from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. leading up to Christmas, designed for families to take a break from the busy holiday season and get creative together. Michaels will provide materials and instructions to help attendees paint their own personalized wooden ornament, alongside complimentary festive treats.

In addition, Michaels will continue to host seasonal-themed “MakeBreak” and “Kids Club” events every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the winter.

In other holiday plans, Michaels is offering up to 70% off storewide during its extended Black Friday and Cyber Monday event (Nov. 21 – Dec. 6) with its deepest discounts ever on everything from artificial trees and holiday décor to handmade gifting supplies like yarn and apparel.  

"We're especially focused this year on delivering more value to shoppers through a combination of sales and promotions, convenient pick-up and delivery options, and an expanded assortment of seasonal décor items and gifts," said David Boone, CEO at Michaels. "Above all, though, we want to help our customers celebrate the magic of the holiday season by creating opportunities for connection, creativity and celebration right in our stores."

The Michaels Cos. operate more than 1,300 Michaels stores in 49 states and Canada. It also owns Artistree, a manufacturer of custom and specialty framing merchandise.

A leading youth fashion retailer is integrating mobile checkout, RFID-based inventory management and seamless fulfillment.

Following a five-month project start to pilot phase, Pacsun rolled out Manhattan Associates Active POS cloud-native in-store sales and service solution across 300 stores. Mobile checkout capabilities eased in-store lines, while unified inventory management based on RFID integration supported seamless social fulfillment across Instagram, Amazon, TikTok and Pacsun’s own channels. 

[Read more: Pacsun implementing RFID at store level]

During peak 2024 holiday season, Pacsun achieved record-breaking revenue and streamlined operations, with 40% of online orders being fulfilled via stores, In addition, the retailer reported that by optimizing inventory proximity, labor capacity and shipping costs, it reduced logistics expenses 25%.

"Manhattan’s POS is a game-changer," said Shirey Gao, Pacsun’s chief digital and information officer. "Unified commerce means one transaction, one checkout, whether a customer buys online, returns in-store, or accesses inventory from any channel. Store associates adapted instantly, turning challenges like oversold items into opportunities."

According to Pacsun, store associates can now leverage capabilities like intuitive workflows that streamline returns and endless aisle functionality that convert out-of-stocks into digital orders, allowing the retailer’s stores to also serve as service and fulfillment hubs. This retailer anticipates this will turn post-return purchases into a revenue driver with in-store upsells increasing during exchanges.

"Pacsun’s success underscores how stores thrive when unified with digital," said Stewart Gantt, executive VP, professional services, Manhattan Associates. "Our POS solution isn’t just a tool. It’s a growth engine that turns every interaction into a loyalty-building moment, whether a customer starts their journey on TikTok or in a fitting room."