STORES

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In 2024, Five Below’s reputation as an innovative, fast-growing player in the discount space seemed under threat. A combination of declining same-store sales in the last quarter, the departure of its longtime CEO, and rising losses from shrink placed the company on its backfoot.

Two years later, the discount chain is taking a victory lap. Net sales jumped 22.9% in Q2 this year from 2025, and same-store sales were up 14.1% year over year.

The “flywheel” driving these results, as CEO Winifried Park told shareholders during an earnings call in September, is a combination of merchants hunting down trends, marketing teams amplifying their story, and store associates executing through merchandising.

Keep reading here.—AV

      

Sponsored By Rithum

Brands that treat AI visibility as an afterthought are losing out on new opportunities. It’s already starting to show: Rithum’s research found that 70% of consumers have used an LLM to shop in the last three months, and 1 in 5 people in that group discovered the brand from an AI recommendation.

Rithum reports that 3 out of 4 AI-driven optimizations are accepted. But 58% of shoppers blame the brand—not the LLM—when an AI recommendation contains incorrect product information.

Want a crash course on agentic commerce? Rithum’s The New Discovery Engine report explores insights from 1k+ US and UK online shoppers, including how to build trust and how brands can prepare for the LLM shopping shift.

Read the full report.

MARKETING

Beyond Yoga

For Beyond Yoga, the future of activewear retail involves a little less scrolling and a little more “touch grass,” if you ask CMO Katie Babineau.

The activewear brand, which Levi Strauss & Co acquired for ~$400 million in 2021, recently opened a 2,300-square-foot pop-up at 108 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, its most significant retail presence in New York City to date. The location, which will remain open through early January, features much of the brand’s assortment alongside NYC-exclusive merchandise and a slate of fitness and community programming.

Per Babineau, the pop-up is as much an experiment in physical retail as it is another store.

Keep reading here.—JS

      

RETAIL

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After Nordstrom hired a Harper’s Bazaar journalist as its VP and fashion director this summer, more retail brands looked to the publishing world for exec hires in September. More on that, and the other major retail exec changes, here:

• Amid declining retail sales in North America, Cheerios owner General Mills named COO Dana McNabb as its new CEO taking over for Jeff Harmening, who has led the food giant since 2017. McNabb will assume the role at the beginning of next year.
• Rent the Runway promoted Chief Commercial Officer Paige Thomas to CEO following the departure of co-founder and CEO Jennifer Hyman in May.
• Roger Lynch left his role as CEO of Condé Nast to lead Mattel. Lynch, a Mattel board member since 2018, succeeds Ynon Kreiz, becoming chair on October 2 and CEO on or before November 2.
• Target tapped Mark Weinstein, former CMO and head of luxury brands at Hilton, as its chief marketing and guest officer.
• Sprouts Farmers Market CEO Jack Sinclair is stepping down on January 4 after serving in the role since 2019, and is set to be replaced by President and COO Nick Konat.
• Kohl’s announced two C-suite changes: CMO Christie Raymond retired, while Arianne Parisi was promoted from chief digital officer to the newly created role of chief customer officer.

Keep reading here.—EC

      

Sponsored By NRF

A taste of one of retail’s biggest gatherings. It’s almost time for NRF ’27: Retail’s Big Show. And if you’d like a breakdown of the Fast Forward theme, tech vendors, keynotes, and sessions you’ll be walking into, we’ve teamed up with NRF to provide just that. Here’s your tasting menu—be sure to save room for dessert.

swapping skus

Today’s top retail reads.

Lit gadget: Amazon has released a new line of slimmer and lighter Kindles in new shades, after the e-reader’s sales reached its highest point in over a decade last year. (Bloomberg)

De-lighted to see you: Walmart is adding digital shelf labels that light up to make it easier for shoppers to find items in stores. (CNBC)

All spice: Spice maker McCormick’s sales surged 17% in Q3. (the Wall Street Journal)

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Jobs

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• Category Manager at DHL Express, Inc.
• Category Manager at Primo Brands
• Senior Category Manager at Williams Companies
• Principal Category Manager at Sabre
• Merchandising Operations Manager at Crypto.com