Welcome to The Week in Retail, a weekly round-up for marketers from Quad Insights that covers the latest must-know news surrounding the retail space.
Retailers announce early holiday sales in lead-up to Black Friday
Several major retailers are kicking off the holiday season early this year with major sales scheduled for October. On Monday, Amazon announced plans to offer Black Friday-style sales during its Prime Big Deal Days event set for Oct. 10-11, open only to Prime members. Walmart will also offer online-only discounts during its four-day Walmart Deals Holiday Kickoff, launching at 7 p.m. ET on Oct. 9 and ending on the 12th.
Also, Target just announced the return of Target Circle Week, Oct. 1-7, during which it will offer “deep discounts on thousands of items,” and Best Buy shared its plans to offer a holiday “sneak peak,” which will include a 48-hour sale on select electronics, from TVs to laptops, starting Oct. 10.
Meanwhile, in an effort to boost its online marketplace, social media platform TikTok is cashing in on the early holiday shopping trend as well by subsidizing significant discounts on products — up to 50% off in some cases — beginning Oct. 27, Bloomberg reports.
Related coverage:
• “Target Pulls Holiday Deals to Early October, Ahead of Amazon and Walmart” (Barron’s)
• “TikTok will fund Black Friday deals to take on Amazon” (The Verge)
True Religion sees success as it opens first store in 4 years
This week, global apparel brand True Religion officially opened its first new brick-and-mortar store — its 46th location — in over four years, as part of the brand’s growth strategy to selectively open locations that align with “where our shoppers want us to be,” CEO Michael Buckley said in a statement. Located in Atlanta’s Cumberland Mall, True Religion’s new 2,000-square foot store exceeded internal projections for its soft opening by 68%, Retail Dive’s Nate Delesline III reports. “Founded in 2002 in Los Angeles, the True Religion brand is rooted in hip-hop music and culture,” he notes. “The company says Atlanta is the brand’s ‘spiritual home’ on the East Coast and it has collaborated with many artists, influencers and designers from the area, like 2Chainz, Lil Gnar and Bluboy.”
Having survived two bankruptcies in the last six years, True Religion secured fresh financial support in the form of a new term loan and revolving credit facility, the brand announced in August, which enabled it to open the new location.
Related coverage:
• “True Religion Beats Opening Projections for New Store by 67.9%” (Retail TouchPoints)
Kroger to offer medically tailored meals for people living with chronic conditions
Kroger has announced a partnership between the national grocery store chain’s healthcare arm Kroger Health and Performance Kitchen to offer medically tailored meals for individuals living with chronic diseases, according to a company statement. The partnership marks a first for Kroger Health, with registered-dietician-approved meals created to help people better manage conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
In its announcement, Kroger Health cited a Tufts University study indicating that medically tailored meals could help prevent 1.6 million hospitalizations each year and save taxpayers nearly $13.6 billion per year. As Supermarket News reports, “The meals are aimed at diverse populations with culturally relevant foods and feature options like chicken Dijon with kale, Moroccan-style chicken with quinoa, vegetable chickpea curry and salmon pasta.”
Related coverage:
• “Kroger Health partnership to serve up medically tailored meals” (Winsight Grocery Business)
Dollar General announces expansion of private fleet of trucks
Dollar General announced the expansion of its private fleet of trucks, with plans to add 2,000 by the year’s end, CEO Jeff Owen said on the company’s latest earnings call. Part of a larger effort to cut costs and gain more control over its supply chain, the move is expected to save the company 20% in associated costs for every third-party truck it replaces with one of its own.
Related coverage:
• “Dollar General to Grow Private Fleet to 2K Trucks by Year’s End” (Fleet Management Weekly)
Further reading
• “DoorDash Gets New Grocery Partners. That’s Bad News for Instacart.” (Barron’s)
• “Melissa & Doug to Open First Retail Location in New York” (The Toy Book)
• “Bootmaker Dr Martens to offer repairs in sustainability step” (Reuters)
• “Adidas charts history of its iconic Originals sneakers in global campaign” (The Drum)
• “Walmart adds video search ad content to Walmart Connect media platform” (Chain Store Age)
• “Family Dollar to launch new mobile app experience” (Drug Store News)
• “Instacart’s IPO surges as the grocery delivery company goes from the supermarket to the stock market” (AP News)
• “Kroger to make more local products available post-merger close” (Retail Insight Network)
• “Wakefern Launches Live Tracking for Home Delivery of Online Orders” (Progressive Grocer)
• “Sam’s Club, Giant Eagle beef up their retail media platforms” (Grocery Dive)
