| Rowan’s new store format. |
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Hello, it may already be freezing where you live, but at some supermarkets in France, things are heating up—and by that, we mean the refrigerators. In a recent cyberattack, hackers reportedly targeted hundreds of French supermarkets, causing refrigerators and freezers to reach temperatures as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit, sparking fires and spoiling food. The EU’s agriculture commissioner condemned the attack, calling it a “weaponization of food.” In today’s edition: —Jeena Sharma, Andrew Adam Newman, Katie Hicks |
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STORES Something pierce  Rowan | If you ever had your ears pierced as a kid, we imagine the experience wasn’t the most pleasant, let alone private. Rowan, the ear-piercing and jewelry company, wants to change that as it debuts a new, more upscale studio format at The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in December. This will be followed by a location at the Somerset Collection in Troy, Michigan, in January. The concept features private piercing rooms, upgraded materials and lighting, and, at the Florida location, a new assortment of higher-end diamond jewelry. The new format comes as Rowan continues to expand its brick-and-mortar locations quickly. In fact, Founder and CEO Louisa Schneider told Retail Brew the 7-year-old retailer expects to end 2026 with 135 locations across the country. While Rowan differentiates itself by treating piercing as a medical procedure and using licensed nurses trained in its proprietary piercing program, the new concept was also shaped by the retailer’s landlords. Keep reading here.—JS |
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Sponsored By Salesforce Retail and its agentic era  | The 2025 holiday season marked a turning point for retailers. Why? It was a period where many went from talking about AI to actually using it. And the retailers that used agentic AI ended up winning big. The 2026 Retail Playbook from Salesforce gives you the information to thrive in this new agentic era. Flip through to learn how you can: - Move from reactive support to proactive service.
- Use agents to resolve issues before customers even notice.
- Give human reps more time for high-touch and high-empathy cases.
You’ll also see what agentic strategies are already proven and how you can utilize them for your brand. Get your copy of the 2026 Retail Playbook. |
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CONSUMER BEHAVIOR & TRENDS Accident report  NorthShore | On his website, Caregiverology, Derek Tanner, a registered nurse, offers a guide on how to properly change adult patients’ diapers. His first tip: Do not call them “diapers.” “If they hear it being called an adult diaper, they’ll resent wearing one even more,” wrote Tanner, who recommended calling them “briefs” instead. “It makes them feel comparable to a baby or a child who can’t care for themselves.” “Use neutral terms like ‘briefs’ or ‘pads,’—never ‘diapers,’” echoes Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama in a caregiver guide. Many incontinence brands also shy away from the term, with Depend describing one of its more absorbent products with a tab-fastened diaper design as a “brief.” NorthShore Care Supply, which makes incontinence products, used to avoid the D-word, too. But around 2018, the brand started using the term sparingly, and grew so committed to it that by the time it moved into new headquarters outside of Chicago in 2020, it emblazoned “Northshore Adult Diapers” on its building. Keep reading here.—AAN |
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Sponsored By Shopify  | The buyer journey begins before your site loads. And discovery + vetting happens inside AI. The New Rules of Brand Discovery brings together leaders from Google, Reddit, and Shopify to explain what it takes for brands to be recommended + trusted enough to convert—and why data, storytelling, and reviews still matter. Watch the webinar. |
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MARKETING In the bag  Walmart | The phrase “Get that bag” is not usually a reference to the plastic vessel that holds a rotisserie chicken. But sometimes it is. In the last year, Walmart’s marketing team discovered through social listening that its rotisserie chicken had amassed a fandom, with 15,000 organic social mentions, Kim Tunick, group director and head of brand experiences and partnerships at Walmart, told us. It included posts of people holding the bag as a purse—which led the brand’s social team to go to the merchandising side of the house with a proposition. Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—KH |
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swapping skus | Today’s top retail reads. Gone but not forgotten: The luxury sector continues to struggle as the aspirational customer is being pushed away. (Retail Dive) Tough times: New data from Pew Research looked at why about half of Americans are struggling to pay for necessities. (the New York Times) A toy story: Why is buying toys in the US getting more expensive than some other goods? (Reuters) Lessons from last szn: The 2025 holiday marked a big shift. Retailers started harnessing AI in new (and very effective) ways. Salesforce built the 2026 Retail Playbook based on those winning strategies. Check it out.* *A message from our sponsor. |
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Jobs  | Tired of one-size-fits-all job boards? CollabWORK highlights roles that reflect your interests and goals—delivered through communities like Retail Brew. Click here to explore the full job board. |
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