News Briefs

A change is in store for a smart TV maker/streaming platform provider that Walmart purchased for $2.3 billion in 2024.

The discount giant plans to make Vizio a private label brand by the end of the year and will sell its smart televisions exclusively at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores, reported Bloomberg News, which cited a memo it viewed. Currently, Vizio TVs are also sold by other retailers, including Target and Amazon.

Walmart completed its purchase of Vizio at the end of 2024, at which point the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the retail giant. In acquiring Vizio and its SmartCast operating system, Walmart emphasized that the deal would create new opportunities to help advertisers connect with customers, as well as offer new connected TV and streaming content for consumers.

“Vizio offers great products at great prices that customers love," said Seth Dallaire, executive VP and chief growth officer, Walmart U.S., in a press release when the deal was completed. “Vizio has also expertly changed their business over time, like building and quickly scaling a profitable advertising business. Pairing it with Walmart Connect will be impactful and allow us to invest in our business even further on behalf of our customers." 

Making Vizio’s hardware and advertising capabilities exclusive to Walmart will help the retailer fortify and differentiate its growing media empire from that of its competitors, the report said.

Bringing Vizio into its portfolio of private brands marks Walmart’s latest effort to integrate the business as the company looks to sharpen its edge in the competitive advertising industry, Bloomberg reported. The retailer is bringing Vizio’s operating system to its private label TV brand Onn, Bloomberg said, adding that Walmart has been working on making TV a “shoppable” experience, with consumers buying items while watching shows.

 According to the report, Walmart has 90 private label brands, and over 20 generate at least $1 billion in annual sales.

Subway has ended its months-long search for a chief executive.

The quick-serve sandwich giant said that Jonathan Fitzpatrick will join the company as CEO effective July 28, following a comprehensive search. He will succeed Carrie Walsh, who has served as interim chief since John Chidsey retired as Subway CEO at the end of 2024.

Most recently, Fitzpatrick served as president and CEO of automotive services provider Driven Brands, which owns franchised automotive concepts such as Take 5 Oil Change and Maaco. He stepped down from the company, which he led since 2012, earlier this year. 

Prior to Driven Brands, Fitzpatrick served in a range of senior leadership positions at Burger King, including executive VP, chief brand and operations officer. In the role, Fitzpatrick led the single largest menu overhaul in the brand's history, simplified restaurant operations and reimagined the guest experience while modernizing the restaurant's global image, according to a statement by Subway.

Fitzpatrick’s appointment comes as Subway, which was acquired by Roark Capital for $9.6 billion in 2024, works to reverse an ongoing sales decline in the U.S. and expand its global presence.

"I'm honored to lead this iconic brand that has been serving guests around the world for 60 years," Fitzpatrick said. "Subway has a solid foundation built on decades of providing freshly made, better-for-you options with value and convenience. I'm excited by the opportunity to shape the future of the company, working alongside our valued franchisees and employees to help drive increased sales and franchisee profitability and grow our brand around the world."

[READ MORE: First Look: Subway unveils new global restaurant design]

Subway has about 37,000 restaurants worldwide.

A growing Mediterranean fast-casual chain has opened its doors in Michigan.

Cava has opened its first location in the Wolverine State with a 3,850-sq.-ft. location in Canton, a western suburb of Detroit. The chain says it plans to open a second Michigan location soon, with additional locations also in the works. Earlier this year, the Detroit Free Press reported that Cava was slated to open a location in downtown Detroit this summer.

“We’re thrilled to join the Southeast Michigan community and introduce more guests to the bold, vibrant flavors of the Mediterranean,” said Gino Carlin, regional leader at Cava. “Entering the state of Michigan marks our 28th state, and we’re eager to welcome more guests in the Midwest and throughout the country to our table to enjoy our Mediterranean cuisine and hospitality.”

Cava says its goal is to reach 1,000 restaurants by 2032. It opened 58 net new restaurants in its 2024 fiscal year, and expects at least 17% growth in 2025. This spring, Cava opened its first restaurant in Indiana.

[READ MORE: Report: Restaurants to add 490,000 summer jobs this year]

Founded in Rockville, Md., Cava, which went public in 2023, operates more than 300 locations nationwide. Cava's fully-customizable menu comprises of 38 ingredients, creating over 17 billion combinations for guests to enjoy through bowls, pitas, chips, dips, juices and dressings.

Two home improvement chains dominated category spending in 2024.

The Home Depot and Lowe’s maintained their positions as category leaders through 2024, according to the Numerator Home Improvement Tracker, which provides quarterly insight into omnichannel consumer buying behavior in select home improvement categories. The two chains captured an average of 28% and 18% share of consumer spend, respectively, in the tracked home improvement categories. 

The categories that saw the most growth in household penetration over the last 12 months were power tools, purchased by 41.2% of  U.S. households purchased, and outdoor power equipment, purchased by 39% of households.

[READ MORE: Home Depot making $4.3 billion acquisition in expansion of pro offerings]

Other findings from the latest update of the Numerator Home Improvement Tracker are below:

• Consumer reasons for purchasing from a specific retailer included convenience location (44.2%), best prices (41.5%) and product options/availability (34.1%).
• While most home improvement categories are still dominated by name brand products, private label brands see the largest share in hand tools (39.2% of category spend), lawn & garden (22.7%) and kitchen & bathroom (20.1%).

Sur La Table has expanded its executive leadership team.

The specialty retailer of cookware, kitchen electrics and bakeware has appointed Dan Goldman as president, effective as of July 14. With more than 20 years of experience across retail, consumer goods, and private equity-backed businesses, Goldman most recently led brand strategy at Banana Republic and Athleta, as well as corporate strategy & development at Gap Inc. 

Prior to Gap, he held leadership roles at The North Face, McKinsey & Company and Kurt Salmon, as well as brand management roles at Procter & Gamble.

At Sur La Table, Goldman will focus on “aligning internal teams, elevating customer experiences, and embedding innovation across channels." His appointment comes as the company is focused on growth. In March, it announced the acquisition of Seattle Coffee Gear, a coffee equipment retailer.

“Dan’s hire is one of the most important leadership decisions we’ve made as part of our aggressive growth strategy,” said Jordan Voloshin, CEO of Sur La Table. “As we continue to achieve our bold objectives and execute against a multi-year brand plan, we identified a leader with the rare ability to bridge vision and action. Dan’s expertise in brand storytelling and operations, alongside his team-first mindset, makes him exactly the right person to help bring our ambitious vision to life.”

Joann’s liquidation has been a boon to other arts and crafts retailers.

In May, Joann closed its final stores, with the move coming after the retailer announced in February that it was winding down operations after 82 years in business. Since the closures, other crafting retailers, including Michaels, Hobby Lobby and Blick Art Materials, have all seen a boost in foot traffic, according to a new Placer.ai report, “The Post-Joann Arts and Crafts Retail Landscape.”

One of the biggest beneficiaries of Joann’s demise has been its longtime competitor Michaels, whose store traffic rose 9.2% year over year in June, reported Placer.ai. (Also in June, Michaels completed the acquisition of the intellectual property and private label brands of Joann.)

“With the acquisition of Joann’s intellectual property, Michaels has solidified its position as the category leader, and its ability to absorb displaced customers will define the industry's landscape in the near-term,” the Placer.ai report said. 

The report noted that success in the current craft space may require operating at one of two extremes: either achieving market dominance through scale or cultivating a defensible, premium niche that sidesteps mainstream competition.

In April, Placer.ai released a report that said the largest players in the arts and crafts space — Hobby Lobby and Michaels — appeared to have grown their market share at the expense of Joann, and stood to gain even more from the retailer’s departure. 

In addition, an analysis of the median household incomes (HHI) of the three retailers’ 2024 captured trade areas revealed that Joann attracted more affluent visitors than Hobby Lobby but lower-HHI visitors than Michaels. 

"This suggests that in the absence of Joann, the chain’s wealthier shoppers may gravitate towards Michaels while its lower-income shoppers may more naturally turn to Hobby Lobby," the report said.