August 8, 2025

  • Back-to-school shoppers are heavily influenced by advertising in terms of making purchasing decisions, per GumGum data. A full 73% of U.S. respondents indicated that ads inform them of new brands, and 26% say that advertising guides buying decisions (via Chain Store Age).
  • More than half of U.S. consumers indicated “major” stress over the current cost of groceries, according to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A mere 14% indicated that grocery prices were not currently a source of stress at all (via CNN Business).
  • IKEA has made a move into the Chinese market, opening a digital store on e-commerce platform JD.com on August 8 (via Reuters).
  • Instacart signaled Q3 gross transaction value beating Wall Street estimates, hedging bets on resilient consumer demands as it pushes efforts to offer cheaper groceries via its platform (via Reuters).
  • Claire’s, related to its recent bankruptcy filing, has identified 700 stores “not viable under current lease terms or are underperforming.” Said stores include over 200 stores located in Walmart locations, as well as 120 Icing stores (via Retail Touchpoints).
  • Tommy Bahama has chosen Aptos One as its POS partner as it rolls out a mobile-first point-of-sale solution to better serve its customers (via Chain Store Age).
  • Consumer Cellular has opened its 50th store, with plans to open 100 locations by the end of 2026 (via Retail Touchpoints).
  • Under Armour indicated that an ongoing sales decline would continue this quarter, alongside projected softer demand and a further $100 million in tariff-related costs (via Reuters).
  • JD Sports has been named the NRF’s fastest-growing retailer in the United States. After acquiring Alabama-based Hibbett, JD Sports achieved 41.5% growth in domestic sales (via Chain Store Age).