December 9, 2025
Here are our picks for top news impacting retailers today:
- Costco is expanding the presence of its Business Center into Canada, opening a new 137,000-square-ft. operation in East Gwillimbury, Ontario. A conversion of a pre-existing Costco for this purpose, the expansion of Costco Business Center into the Canadian market is planned to continue, with the same expansion slated to take place stateside (via Chain Store Age).
- Several products sold on Amazon were recalled recently, including INIU portable power banks, HydroJug children’s beverage tumblers, Crayola ‘CreateOn’ pip-Cubes, and KTEBO drawing tablets for kids (via FOX Business).
- Starbucks workers remain without a labor deal on the four-year anniversary of winning a unionization battle. The union is currently running an open-ended strike, and has been since Nov. 13, as both parties appear very far apart on negotiations. “I truly believe this is the tipping point. I’ve never seen workers as fired up as they are right now,” said Michelle Eisen, one of the leaders responsible for the initial union campaign in Buffalo, who now works for the union (via CNN Business).
- PepsiCo is engaging in talks with activist investor Elliott Management, and although no firm conclusions have been resolved, it appears that the company is willing to consider changes to its supply chain operations and pricing strategy (via Reuters).
- Instacart has announced the capability for its users to shop for products directly within ChatGPT, leveraging the instant checkout function to do so. ChatGPT can help to source a list of ingredients or desired products, present them to the user, and then deliver the request to purchase. “Built on Agentic Commerce Protocol, this experience brings intelligent, real-time support to one of the most essential parts of daily life: getting groceries to feed your family. Together, we’re creating a seamless and secure way for people to turn simple conversations into real-world action — helping customers go from inspiration to a full cart delivered from the store to their door with ease,” said Anirban Kundu, Instacart CTO (via Chain Store Age).