September 29, 2025
- Electronic Arts is slated to go private via a $55 billion deal involving Saudi Arabian investment, as well as support from a Jared Kushner-backed investment firm (via CNN Business).
- U.S. holiday shoppers appear poised to set a budget for the season’s spend, with 58% of those polled saying as much, per RetailMeNot data. The average spend this year is pegged at an estimated $913 (via Chain Store Age).
- Kroger announced the expansion of its partnership with DoorDash. As of Oct. 1, Kroger customers can use DoorDash to gain access to products from almost 2,700 locations (via Chain Store Age).
- PepsiCo is leaning even harder into the burgeoning “dirty soda” trend, following up its successful Pepsi Wild Cherry & Cream flavor with two new offerings, Dirty Dew and Mug Floats Vanilla Howler. Both are set to be revealed in a few weeks at a Chicago trade show (via CNBC).
- Nike investors will be zeroed in on the company’s marketing plans for the upcoming year, particularly given the brand’s taste for expensive campaigns in the most recent year ending in May as well as its ongoing turnaround effort (via Reuters).
- McDonald’s is reintroducing its Monopoly game stateside after a decade-long hiatus, this time with a focus on a digital game board versus a previously physical game board available to franchise fans (via CNN Business).