October 1, 2025
- The U.S. government officially entered a shutdown on Oct. 1, with the stock market exhibiting slight losses over the news. However, “Investors have generally looked past budget-related disruptions, prioritizing corporate earnings, broader economic trends and other key macroeconomic factors,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial (via CNN Business).
- GLP-1 drugs may be responsible for creating $5 billion retail apparel inventory risk, as size trends shift downward and inventory misalignment causes significant overstock in larger garments (via Chain Store Age).
- IKEA plans to open a new store in Manhattan, with Ingka Group having purchased a 53,000 square-foot SoHo property for $213 million. The purchase represents IKEA’s continue push into the U.S. market (via Reuters).
- Nike is showing some relative strength, having reported a rise in quarterly revenue and beaten Wall Street’s modest profit projections this week. Nike has also quickly moved out older inventory, focusing on its core sports footwear business (via Reuters).
- Amazon has combined its Amazon Fresh and Happy Belly brands into a new Amazon Grocery private label. The brand plays host to more than 1,000 SKUs rated four stars or above (via Chain Store Age).
- Peloton is leaning big into the tech boom, pinning turnaround hopes on a lineup of five new products which are all enhanced with various technological gadgets. In particular, the “plus” versions of its treadmill, bike, and rowing machine contain Peloton IQ, an AI-assisted feature taking on the role of personal trainer (via CNN Business).