STORES

Smash Kitchen

Lots of food and beverage brands are helmed by celebrities. But these days, even those with star power like Lionel Messi behind them haven’t been able to find their footing.

When pantry brand Smash Kitchen, co-founded by actor Glen Powell, debuted last April, it garnered media fanfare thanks to its celebrity affiliation. However, with sales on track to hit $100 million this year, it’s since proven itself to be a smash hit.

Smash Kitchen started with condiments, offering organic versions of classics like ketchup, yellow mustard, mayonnaise, and BBQ sauce, priced from $2.17 to $4.97, with a goal of rethinking American pantry staples with cleaner ingredients. Powell co-founded the brand with Jinx pet food co-founder and former Casper exec Sameer Mehta, who serves as CEO, and president Sean Kane, co-founder of The Honest Company.

Unlike many better-for-you startups or celebrity brands that eye Whole Foods or Target as launchpads, Smash Kitchen launched exclusively at Walmart nationwide, with the brand and the retailer recognizing there weren’t pantry options for consumers that were “turning not only consumers to changing their habits, but bringing people into the stores,” Powell told Retail Brew.

“And Smash has done both of those things,” he said.

Keep reading here.—EC

      

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E-COMMERCE

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This holiday season, some big brands will rely on livestreams and new product drops to drum up excitement for holiday sales on TikTok Shop, as the platform expands the scale of live shopping and commerce online.

TikTok Shop has been in a period of transition as it doubles down on courting established brands like Best Buy and Sephora. The platform has added tools like Live Auctions and shoppable links to make it easier for merchants to create live shopping experiences. Live shopping sales on TikTok Shop “more than doubled” in the first half of 2026 compared with 2025, according to the company.

Users can expect to see new products from beauty and cosmetics brand e.l.f. this holiday season, while Gap and its sister brands Banana Republic and Old Navy plan to lean into creator-led discounts to lure holiday shoppers on TikTok Shop. Plus, gaming and entertainment brand Nex will test live gaming within the native live shopping experience on TikTok Shop.

Keep reading here.—VC

      

RETAIL

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A month into her tenure as CEO of Lululemon, Heidi O’Neill shook up the company’s C-suite in October.

Nike vet O’Neill added two new C-suite roles this month: Athleta CEO Maggie Gauger, also O’Neill’s former Nike colleague, was named president and chief product officer, and Walmart Canada’s Chief Growth Officer Joseph Godsey was tapped as COO. Meanwhile, Lululemon’s Chief Brand and Product Activation Officer Nikki Neuburger and Chief Supply Chain Officer Ted Dagnese, execs at the brand for seven and 10 years, respectively, will both exit the company on November 6.

The moves, O’Neill said in a statement, put “product, design, and innovation at the center of how we operate.”

The company said it’s still searching for chief brand, communications, and technology officers (in August, Chief Strategy Officer Rachel Acheson and Chief AI and Technology Officer Ranju Das both exited).

Keep reading here.—EC

      

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Today’s top retail reads.

Aisle be back: Food-and-beverage sales rose 15.5% online but fell 2.8% in-store YoY for the four weeks ending October 4, per Circana. (Grocery Dive)

Hungry cart: Amazon reported that groceries and household essentials represented about half of unit sales in Q3, and that those categories grew at about three times the rate of the rest of its store. (the Washington Post)

Hire power: Logistics companies and retailers are using technology and flexible scheduling to hire holiday workers later in the season as needed to reduce overstaffing. (the Wall Street Journal)

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