News Briefs

Walmart is bringing a very special delivery truck to DreamHack Atlanta 2025.

As part of an offering called "Walmart Delivers," the discount giant has transformed five of its delivery trucks into experiential experiences that will stop at a wide range of events. The trucks are packed with interactive experiences, customizable giveaways and a curated assortment of items that visitors might not expect Walmart to have, all shoppable via QR code.

From Friday, Oct. 31 through Sunday, Nov. 2, Walmart is bringing the "Walmart Delivers Lo-fi Play" experience to DreamHack Atlanta 2025, a three-day gaming lifestyle festival at the Georgia World Congress Center. The Walmart Delivers experience will serve as a retro gaming hub celebrating lo-fi gaming, a segment of retro gaming focused on the aesthetic of the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

DreamHack attendees will have a chance to play famous retro video and board games, climb a live leaderboard, snap an eight-bit-style photo, and obtain a free assortment of Walmart-sold gamer merchandise.

"We are thrilled to welcome Walmart and their Walmart Delivers experience to DreamHack Atlanta,” said Andreas Jernberg, VP commercial at ESL FACEIT Group. “Our festival is all about celebrating the gaming lifestyle and bringing our community together. Their lo-fi gaming hub is a fantastic addition that adds a nostalgic spirit to our event, offering a unique and engaging experience for our attendees. It's great to see a brand like Walmart engaging with our community in such an authentic way."

The "Walmart Delivers" experience is touring across the country in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas. Most recently, it stopped at New York Comic Con.

[READ MORE: Walmart launches digital marketplace for comic book collectors]

Whole Foods Market has brought its smaller-store concept to a new market.

The natural and organic foods grocer has opened the fourth location of its Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Va. At 10,000-plus sq. ft., it's the largest location of the concept to date, and also it's first outside of New York City. 

Whole Foods revealed in March 2024 that it planned to debut a “quick-shop,” smaller-store concept, with the format ranging between 7,000 sq. ft. to 14,000 sq. ft., which is about a quarter to half the footprint of an average 40,000 sq. ft. store. It paves the way for Whole Foods to expand in dense, metropolitan areas. 

Whole Foods opened its first Daily Shop in September 2024, in the Lenox Hill neighborhood of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It has since opened in the city's Hells Kitchen neighborhood and in the East Village. Additional Daily Shop stores are planned for the New York metro area, including Hoboken, N.J., and Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. 

As part of its ongoing commitment to support local communities, Whole Foods Market is contributing in-kind product to support the work of Northern Virginia Food Rescue. Whole Foods Market will also make donations to local nonprofits ALIVE!, Inc. and the Arlington Food Assistance Center.

Einstein Bros. Bagels is expanding its footprint in one of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas.

The fast-casual bagel chain has secured seven new leases totaling 14,000 sq. ft. in the Houston area through full-service real estate firm Baker Katz. Averaging 2,000 sq. ft. of space per store, the expansion of Einstein Bros. Bagels’ portfolio of properties in Houston includes locations in Tanglewood, Cinco Ranch, League City, Conroe, Humble, Tomball, and Garden Oaks/Oak Forest. Einstein Bros. Bagels recently said it plans to open more than 50 units in 2025.

The Baker Katz brokerage team of Lunden McGill, John Frazier and Kennedi Vaughan secured all seven leases on behalf of the chain.

“It’s a privilege to support Einstein Bros. Bagels as the brand focuses on growing their presence across the greater Houston market,” said McGill. “We’re confident that securing these new leases will help Einstein Bros. Bagels continue to thrive, offering guests a warm, inviting atmosphere to enjoy delicious bagels, sandwiches and beverages.”

[READ MORE: Former Target exec named CEO of Caribou Coffee]

Part of the Panera Brands family of companies, which also includes Panera Bread and Caribou Coffee, Einstein Bros. Bagels operates more than 700 locations throughout the United States.

Amazon wants to help prepare at least 50 million people for the future of work.

The online giant is investing $2.5 billon to expand access to education and skills training for Amazon employees, students and others as part of a new initiative called "Future Ready 2030."  The initiative is designed to connect education directly to real employment outcomes across every stage of career development.

 It encompasses programs such as Amazon Future Engineer, which helps students K-12 pursue computer science education, free cloud computing skills training, and apprenticeships like the Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeship (MRA) program for employees.

In addition, Amazon is expanding its Career Choice program to all salaried employees in the U.S. (Level 4 entry-to-mid-level management roles and above). Launched in 2012 to aid Amazon employees in obtaining continuing education, Amazon says Career Choice has helped more than 250,000 employees worldwide—including 100,000 this past year—enter new careers.

Other efforts Amazon is making to upskill current employees include Machine Learning University, which offers employees with technical backgrounds the opportunity to access machine learning skills via an on-site training program.

[READ MORE: Amazon to pay full employee tuition as part of $1.2 billion plan]

"Whether someone dreams of working at Amazon, works here now, or has moved on to their next chapter, our goal is the same: helping them have access to the education and training needed to thrive in whatever comes next," Beth Galetti, senior VP of people experience and technology at Amazon, said in a corporate blog post.

[READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE Q&A: Tractor Supply Company talks supply chain, AI, tariffs — and more]

Starbucks Corp. is testing out an assistant store manager position in select U.S. stores.

The coffee giant is running a pilot through December 2025 in select coffeehouses in California, Illinois and Texas where 62 employees are filling newly created, dedicated full-time assistant store manager roles. Of these new hires, Starbucks says 90% (56 out of 62) are internal shift supervisors and baristas who volunteered to step into the positions.  

Starbucks plans to bring at least one assistant store manager to every U.S. and Canadian location in 2026, which it says will create thousands of new leadership roles and double the leadership support in its stores.

According to the company, stores with high barista and shift supervisor engagement scores saw the strongest interest in assistant store manager roles and stores with stable leadership deliver stronger results across the board. Starbucks says its assistant store manager initiative is part of a commitment to hire 90% of retail leadership roles internally, within the next three years. 

Meanwhile, the company continues to revamp its U.S. operations as part of its “Back to Starbucks” turnaround strategy under CEO Brian Niccol, who took the reins one year ago. The coffee giant has approved a restructuring plan, expected to cost about $1 billion, that includes closing underperforming locations and cutting more non-retail jobs. 

While Starbucks ending its fiscal year 2025 in September with store shutterings, the company said it is committed to growth and plans to grow the number of coffeehouses it operates in fiscal 2026. Starbucks also has launched an extensive store "refresh" initiative that involves upgrading more than 1,000 existing locations during the next 12 months with more comfortable furnishings and other enhancements. 

[READ MORE: Starbucks to give makeovers to 1,000 cafes by end of 2026]