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News Stories
Covering the latest news in the retail industry
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November 25, 2025
- Walmart has opened its first-ever branded store in Africa, located at the Clearwater Mall in Roodeport, west of Johannesburg. “Opening this first Walmart store in South Africa is about much more than a business milestone: It is a commitment to helping customers save money and live better by consistently delivering the lowest total cost for the basket of products they need,” said Andrea Albright, EVP and chief growth officer for Walmart International and operating partner, Massmart (via Chain Store Age).
- Campbell’s Soup Company exec Martin Bally is facing a lawsuit from former employee Robert Garza, who had served as a cybersecurity analyst for the company. Garza alleged that Bally made offensive comments during a November 2024 meeting — comments which disparaged the ingredients used in Campbell’s products, alongside other potentially damaging remarks (via FOX Business).
- Abercrombie & Fitch saw shares surge by as much as 16% in premarket trading Nov. 25, largely on the strength of a significant Q3 fiscal beat. The brand reported EPS of $2.36 versus Wall Street expectations of $2.16, and revenue of $1.29 billion versus $1.28 projected. The Hollister label, in particular, helped to bolster the overall company’s prospects, with sales trending upward by 16%, to $673.27 million (via CNBC).
- Alibaba likewise observed a share price improvement in premarket trading Nov. 25, by a more modest 4%, on the back of strong revenue figures which reached almost $35 billion. Alibaba is currently heavily investing in AI capabilities, as well as a play for the “instant retail” market, where purchases are delivered in one hour or less. “We have entered into an investment phase to build long-term strategic value in AI technologies and infrastructure, and a consumption platform integrating daily life services and e-commerce,” said Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu (via Reuters).
- Best Buy upwardly revised its full-year forecast, pointing to customer interest in upgrades and ongoing spend on tech and electronics. The consumer electronics retailer now anticipates revenue of $41.65 billion to $41.95 billion for the full year, versus a range of $41.1 billion to $41.9 billion previously. “We are flexing the unique strength of our model as customers need to upgrade or replace their consumer electronics and new products and innovation are coming to market,” CEO Corie Barry said (via CNBC).
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November 24, 2025
- Black Friday and Cyber Monday spending is projected to soften by 4% versus last year’s figures, according to Deloitte data, with consumers expected to spend an average of $622 this time around. Despite this, participation rates concerning the event are trending upward. “Value continues to be the centerpiece of the holiday season, and Black Friday-Cyber Monday promotions are an easy way for shoppers to capture those deals,” said Brian McCarthy, principal and retail strategy leader at Deloitte (via Chain Store Age).
- Kohl’s has named its new CEO, Michael Bender, to the post — its third chief executive in as many years. Bender has been serving as interim CEO prior to his official appointment to the position in permanent fashion. “Kohl’s has a storied and important role in the retail industry, serving and celebrating families with great products, compelling value, and a differentiated shopping experience. I’m looking forward to reestablishing our leadership position by putting our customers first every day,” Bender said of the news (via CNBC).
- Nvidia downplayed claims of a perceived AI bubble, releasing a report suggesting a massive sales improvement of 60% YoY. “Sales are off the charts… There’s been a lot of talk about an AI bubble. From our vantage point, we see something very different,” said CEO Jensen Huang (via CNN Business).
- Ross delivered a strong Q3 report card, with EPS and net income both improving YoY on the back of a resilient core shopper. “The strong execution by the entire team led to broad-based sales growth across merchandise areas and geographical regions. The strength in top-line, coupled with our continued focus on expense control, resulted in an operating margin of 11.6% that was much stronger than expected,” CEO Jim Conroy said (via press release).
- Car prices are increasing, with the average transaction cost attached to a new vehicle, as of October, registering at $49,105 — a year-over-year increase of 3.1%. “This has been something that we’ve all been waiting for, I don’t think anyone was ever expecting the number to go down. It coincided with a high share of EVs being sold, so naturally, EVs being more expensive it kind of pushed us over the edge,” said Ivan Drury, director of insights at Edmunds (via FOX Business).
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November 21, 2025
- Gap reported comparable sales growth of 5% for Gap Inc., and 7% for the Gap brand more specifically, following the success of its “Better in Denim” summer campaign featuring Katseye. “With more than 8 billion impressions and 500 million views, Better in Denim culminated in a global cultural takeover and has become one of the brand’s most successful campaigns to date, generating significant traffic and double-digit growth in denim,” Dickson said Thursday on the company’s third-quarter earnings call,” said CEO Richard Dickson on a Nov. 20 Q3 earnings call (via Business Insider).
- Hyundai debuted its CRATER adventure concept vehicle at Automobility LA 2025, with the concept being described as rugged and capable by the automaker, reflecting inspiration from surroundings in the natural world. “CRATER began with a question: ‘What does freedom look like?’ This vehicle stands as our answer. It is a vision shaped by our unending drive to explore — to inspire our customers to explore deeper and embrace the impact of adventure,” SangYup Lee, EVP and Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design, said (via press room).
- Cyber Week could break spending records this year, according to Salesforce data. The period spanning Nov. 27 through Dec. 1 is expected to drive $334 billion in global online sales, a ~6% improvement over last year’s figures. “Digital traffic has skyrocketed, indicating shoppers are engaging early to see what’s new and build out their wish lists. This year, more shoppers are leaning on AI and agents to research products, help them budget, and prepare for the holiday season. Combined with Cyber Week sales projections, we expect highly motivated shoppers who are ready to spend, despite rising prices,” said Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights and strategy for Salesforce (via Salesforce).
- U.K. apparel brand Boden has opened its first physical location stateside, in Avalon, Alpharetta, Georgia. While already available online and in Nordstrom shops, Boden is engaging in a significant U.S. growth strategy. “We’re thrilled to be opening our first U.S. store at Avalon. The American customer has embraced Boden with such warmth and enthusiasm over the years, so it feels like the right moment to bring our brand to life in a physical space,” Boden Chief Commercial Officer, Katherine Danneberg, said (via Forbes).
- Bath & Body Works outlined plans to launch at least some of its assortment on Amazon, with CEO Daniel Heaf criticizing current operations as sometimes slow and disorganized. “Our organization has become slow and inefficient. Unnecessary complexity has reduced our speed and dampened our innovation,” he said, adding that a compounding issue was an estimate of between $60 million and $80 million of the retailer’s products currently being sold via the gray market on Amazon (via Business Insider).
