News Briefs
- 9/17/2026
Simon launches new "It's a Simon Thing' brand campaign
Simon Property Group has unveiled a new advertising campaign designed to reinforce consumers’ connection to its properties in “one connected brand story.”
Building on its “Meet Me @themall” campaign from 2024, "It's a Simon Thing" features a montage of everyday experiences that happen at Simon Malls and Simon Premium Outlets across the country, celebrating them as “places where people of all ages come together, explore what's new and create lasting memories.”
The commercial real estate giant will roll out the “It’s a Simon Thing” national campaign this fall across television, cinema, digital and social channels, including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
"Our malls and premium outlet centers are where life happens,” said Lee Sterling, chief marketing officer at Simon. “People have grown up here, met friends, landed first jobs, celebrated milestones, and found things they didn't know they were looking for. Long before social networks, our destinations were places to discover what was new and connect with others. Today, they are still America's third place - with a more dynamic retail mix than ever, discovered by the next generation of shoppers, rediscovered by their parents, and filled with new memories for both.”
The new advertising campaign comes on the heels of the company’s foray into retail media. In late August, Simon launched Simon Media Network, which it described as a “next-generation” commerce media platform that aims to help brands reach consumers across Simon's portfolio.”
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Simon is a real estate investment trust engaged in the ownership of premier shopping, dining and entertainment mixed-use destinations, with roughly 200 properties across North America, Europe and Asia.
- 9/17/2026
Scrubs & Beyond closing all stores
Scrubs and Beyond is leaving physical retail.
The company, which sells uniforms for health care professionals, is closing its 115-plus stores across 30 states. Scrubs & Beyond, which acquired Uniform City and Line Uniform in 2013, is the largest retailer of health care apparel and accessories in the United States, according to its website.
The company announced the news on its site, stating: “All stores closing" and "20-40% off.” It noted that the discounts are available in-store only. Many locations have already begun going-out-of-business sales, reported TheStreet.com.
“At this time, we’re unable to provide an additional comment regarding the closure of our retail locations,” the company said in a statement to The Street. “Scrubs & Beyond has made the strategic decision to wind down its brick-and-mortar retail locations and continue serving customers primarily through our online store.”
Scrubs & Beyond is part of Kindthread, which also owns three other uniform companies: Chefwear, Landau and White Cross.
- 9/17/2026
Courtyard adds limited-edition sneakers to its platform
Online shopping platform Courtyard is venturing into a new category.
The company has entered the sneaker market with the launch of "Courtyard Sneakers Pack." For $275, buyers can browse a curated collection of authenticated "deadstock" sneakers — including ones that are rarely available on the sneakers resale market — with the option to keep, ship, instantly sell back or post for sale on the Courtyard Marketplace.
Courtyard says all Sneaker Packs include clear and easy to find information so that shoppers can make informed decisions. Every sneaker is certified authentic and the only unknown is which pair gets revealed to shoppers.
Once revealed, Courtyard users can choose to ship it home, hold it in Courtyard's secure vault, or sell it back on the platform at fair market value.
"At Courtyard, we're delivering a shopping experience built on the excitement of discovery," said Nico Le Jeune, co-founder and CEO of Courtyard. "Every pair in our inventory is worth owning, from deadstock staples to pairs most enthusiasts will never find anywhere else. We built this for the hardcore collectors, the cultural trendsetters, and anyone ready to cop with confidence knowing the worst case scenario is a keeper and the best is a grail."
[READ MORE: Foot Locker, Instacart partner for delivery]
Founded in 2012, Courtyard's categories include trading cards, luxury watches, comics and coins. The company says its platform has grown from $50,000 in monthly transaction volume in January 2024 to $2 billion annualized today.
- 9/17/2026
Walmart expands scope of Scintilla advertiser data platform
Walmart is increasing the visibility and analytical and recommendation capabilities of its Scintilla first-party operational and retail data platform.
The discount giant is making several updates to Scintilla, which provides a unified picture of category performance and consumer trends at scale. Walmart introduced the platform under the name Luminate in 2021 and then updated it to Scintilla in 2025.
[READ MORE: Walmart expands, renames Luminate data platform]
In July, Walmart released a new tool called Scintilla Boards that integrates insights across areas including customer understanding and business performance. The company plans to roll out customizable boards which will give users greater flexibility to organize the metrics and insights most relevant to them in one place.
In addition, Walmart has developed a version of its agentic AI "super agent" nicknamed “Marty” for Scintilla, helping users more quickly understand metrics, features and capabilities directly within the platform. Walmart is also advancing Scintilla In-Store, a platform for supplier field representatives that connects data to action at the store level which was introduced in February, to provide AI-based recommendations.
In 2027, Walmart says Scintilla will provide brands operating across both its first-party sales and marketplace models a more complete view of their Walmart.com business, bringing insights from their full assortment together in one place. Next year will also see Walmart expand the Scintilla platform to its Sam’s Club warehouse club subsidiary.
“The broader vision is a more connected path from integrated visibility to intelligence to action,” Walmart said in a corporate blog post. “By bringing together quality data, powerful technology and human expertise, Scintilla can help Walmart and its suppliers unlock new opportunities for growth and create better experiences for customers.”
Based in Bentonville, Ark., Walmart Inc. runs 10,900 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries.
- 9/16/2026
Costco expands Uber Eats delivery to 600 stores across U.S.
Costco Wholesale Corp. is significantly extending the reach of its Uber Eats online delivery partnership.
The wholesale retail giant is now offering online delivery via Uber Eats in 47 states, up from 17. Nearly 600 Costco locations are now available on Uber Eats for on-demand and scheduled delivery through the Uber Eats app. The retailer initially partnered with Uber Eats in 2021.
[READ MORE: Costco pilots same-day grocery delivery with Uber]
“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Costco nationwide, giving Costco members more ways to shop and bringing the brand’s storied selection and value to more consumers,” said Andrew Macdonald, president and COO at Uber.
As part of this upgraded U.S. partnership, Uber and Costco are offering additional benefits to Costco members, including 50% off an annual Uber One paid membership for the first year, for eligible members, followed by 20% off in subsequent years.
For a limited time, Uber/Uber Eats gift cards will be available at participating Costco locations and on the Costco e-commerce site at a price of $79.99 for $100 of value. In another limited time offer, consumers can purchase a Costco membership directly through Uber Eats and receive 30% off their first eligible Costco order.
Costco is also available on Uber Eats in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, France and Spain. The retailer began collaborating with Instacart to offer same-day delivery from stores in the U.S. and Canada in 2020, expanding to Europe in 2026. Costco has also been providing curbside pickup at select stores in partnership with Instacart since 2021.
Costco currently operates 939 warehouses globally, including 647 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Uber Eats leverages Uber’s technology and logistics capabilities to partner with 825,000 retailers in more than 11,000 cities globally.
- 9/15/2026
Estee Lauder tracks AI recommendations
A global cosmetics conglomerate is analyzing how its brands are discussed on leading artificial intelligence platforms to improve promotional efforts.
The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. js partnering with AI marketing platform Profound to obtain unified visibility into how its full portfolio of brands is represented across leading generative AI platforms globally and gain insight into when and how they are recommended and where opportunities exist to improve visibility and accuracy.
The company will then use these insights and Profound’s agentic AI tools to optimize content across its brands’ product description pages, blogs, YouTube channels, and content creation at scale to help ensure product information, ingredients, claims and benefits are optimized for consumer visibility and easier for large language models to understand and surface to consumers.
[READ MORE: How AI makes individualized promotions – at scale – a reality]
“The way people discover beauty is being rewritten in real time, and we intend to shape that shift rather than reacting to it,” said Aude Gandon, global chief digital & marketing officer, The Estée Lauder Companies. “This partnership gives every brand in our portfolio the ability to show up distinctly, consistently, and accurately wherever our consumers are asking for recommendations.”
Other Estée Lauder AI activities include an AI Innovation Lab it co-created with Microsoft Corp. as an expansion of a global strategic relationship which began in 2017. Leveraging generative AI capabilities in Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, the companies are working together to develop solutions for Estee Lauder’s beauty brands.
The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. sells products in approximately 150 countries and territories under brand names including: Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, M·A·C, La Mer, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin Paris, TOM FORD, Smashbox, AERIN Beauty, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, GLAMGLOW, and KILIAN PARIS.
Show More