Ron Coughlin, who led Petco for five years as the pet retailer's CEO, announced Wednesday he was stepping down from the company and would remain as an advisor to the board. Petco named Michael Mohan, the former Best Buy president and COO, interim CEO while the board conducts a search for a permanent chief executive.…
Marie Albiges
Whole Foods Market, the Austin-based grocery store chain owned by Amazon.com, announced Monday it was introducing a new, smaller, "quick-shop" store format "designed to provide customers in urban neighborhoods a quick, convenient shopping experience with easier access to fresh, high-quality offerings," according to a company press release. The new format, called Whole Foods Market Daily…
At a session during the eTail West show on Tuesday, James Kim, vice president of digital and technology at Bloomingdale's, shared how the retailer is incorporating artificial intelligence into its business to bring more humanity to a very human activity: shopping. Kim outlined Bloomingdale's innovative approach to integrating AI to enhance customer experiences and drive…
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Monday it would try to block the merger of two large grocery chains, Kroger and Albertsons, saying it would result in higher prices and lower wages for workers. If successful, the merger would be the largest for supermarkets in history, according to a press release from the FTC.…
Beyond Inc., parent company to Overstock.com, Bed Bath & Beyond, and other online brands, announced Tuesday three leadership changes, including two new CEOs. Chandra Holt, formerly the CEO and president of Conn's Home Plus, will become the new CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond effective Wednesday. Dave Nielsen, who until now was serving as president…
Shoe Carnival is expanding with the acquisition of Rogan's Shoes, a midwestern independent shoe retailer with 28 stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois. Shoe Carnival announced the acquisition Tuesday, saying it had purchased Rogan's Shoes for $45 million. The company said the move "advances [its] strategy to be the nation’s leading family footwear retailer" and…
Target is considering offering customers a paid membership program similar to Walmart+ or Amazon Prime, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. The news outlet said the potential membership program would be called Project Trident and could launch as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter. Target shares rose 2.4 percent Wednesday following the publication…
Helena Helmersson, who served as H&M's CEO for four years, gave her resignation in a surprise announcement Wednesday. The Associated Press reported that Helmersson said the past few years have been "very demanding at times for me personally. I am very proud of what we together have achieved during the last [few] years when we…
Anyone in retail knows that brands sometimes have to reinvent themselves in order to remain relevant and — for lack of a better word — "cool" to consumers. At the National Retail Federation's Big Show last week, executives from two well-known brands, Claire's and Crocs, shared how their companies overcame setbacks and charted a new…
Seemantini Godbole, executive vice president, chief digital and information officer, joined Lowe's in 2018. In a discussion this week at NRF's 2024 Big Show with Scott Rankin, principal and global head of strategy at KPMG, Godbole said when she was brought into the company, "there was a lot of things to be desired from a…
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a keynote speech at CES earlier this week that the retail giant would expand its drone delivery footprint and launch an artificial intelligence-powered search tool for iOS users. McMillon said the drone delivery would be expanded to 1.8 million additional households in the Dallas-Fort Worth area later this year.…
A woman in Florida is suing the candy giant Hershey, alleging that the Pennsylvania-based company misled consumers with the packaging on a Halloween-themed Reese's candy. The lawsuit, filed by Cynthia Kelly on Dec. 28, claims that Hershey engaged in "false and deceptive advertising" when it advertised an image of a chocolate peanut butter pumpkin with…
Seattle-based retailer Zulily's website has been down for maintenance since Monday following the layoffs of 800 workers. When attempting to visit Zulily's website Wednesday, the link redirects to https://www.zulily.com/password and displays a message that says, "We are down for maintenance." Earlier this month, news emerged about Zulily layoffs in three states — Washington, Ohio and…
The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk, is reportedly in conversations with Amazon.com to incorporate itself into the e-commerce company's ad-buying software, The Wall Street Journal reported. The news outlet reported that the potential collaboration would aim to target small and midsized businesses on Amazon’s marketplace and convince…
Staples announced Monday it had been hit by a cyber attack during the week following Thanksgiving that temporarily disrupted customer support channels and delivery systems. “Staples recently identified a cybersecurity risk [and] took proactive steps in an effort to mitigate the impact and protect customer data," the company said on its website. PC Magazine reported…