Unilever unveiled plans to launch a global innovation center in New Haven, Connecticut, with a $270 million investment promised. The center will play host to facilities around skin care and cleansing research, a polyculture skin and hair center of excellent, a lab dedicated to drive data insights on human performance, the Unilever Fragrance House, and a package innovation studio (more).

Asian grocery brands are seeing explosive growth in the American market, with data suggesting four times the rate of growth in recent years versus the average. Circana analyst Sally Wyatt said, “You’ve started to see those go into more mainstream because these retailers are wanting to appeal to not just the Asian consumer, but the consumer that wants to have the Asian exploration and Asian flavor combinations,” (more).

The United States economy showed signs of slowing in the first quarter, with GDP growth during the first quarter coming in at 1.6% annualized, according to the Commerce Department, down from 2% expected by economists. Broadly speaking, economic activity is currently being spurred by significant AI-related spending (more).

Costco delivered a strong third-quarter report card as gas sales hit “record-breaking volumes” according to CEO Ron Vachris. Adjusted comp sales were up 11.6% versus year-prior levels, and Vachris said “Against the backdrop of ongoing macro uncertainty, our focus is providing quality goods and services at the lowest possible price,” on a call with analysts (more).

Kohl’s appears to have at least some wind in its sails as it reported Q1 comp sales dipping 1.1% in its fiscal first quarter, an improvement over the 2.8% quarterly slide it endured the prior year. Share prices improved by as much as 22% in early morning trading on May 28. “We’re not done. I think it’s really important to underscore that as well, that we love the trajectory of where things are headed, but we know we still have a lot of work ahead of us,” CEO Michael Bender told CNBC (more).