| Minor League Baseball the retailer. |
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Hi there. Congress is considering legislation that will end production of the penny and enact guidelines for businesses that will have to round their prices accordingly. The bill is called, of course, the Common Cents Act. We know a good pun when we see one, so we’ll throw some pennies in the bill writers’ tip jar…while we still can. In today’s edition: —Andrew Adam Newman, Vidhi Choudhary, Paige McGlauflin |
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STORES Inside baseball  A Dick’s Sporting Goods display in Columbus, Georgia, of licensed merchandise featuring the city’s Minor League Baseball team, the Columbus Clingstones. Minor League Baseball | It’s been more than four decades since Corey Hart’s song “Sunglasses at Night” was on the Billboard charts, but the ’80s earworm would have been right at home at five Minor League Baseball stadiums in late June. It was tied to National Sunglasses Day, and sunglasses brand Goodr, as part of a multifaceted licensing deal with the league, hosted promotional nights that included Jumbotron messages and giveaways of glasses emblazoned with the teams’ logos. Goodr has inked a licensing deal with Minor League Baseball, which, fittingly enough, has been taking big swings in the last couple of seasons when it comes to both partnering with retail brands and getting big-box retailers to carry its teams’ merch. Minor league team merch is featured in 363 Walmart locations this year, up from 138 in 2025, a 163% increase, according to Joe Hutchinson, VP of licensing at Diamond Baseball Holdings, the league’s national licensing partner. This year, its footprint also has increased 118% at Costco (72 stores versus 33 last year) and 29% at Dick’s Sporting Goods (108 stores versus 84 last year). Getting buyers at national chains to recognize the value of minor league teams’ fan bases, or even to know which stores are near their stadiums, was “definitely a challenge,” Hutchinson told Retail Brew. He said his company undertook a “retail mapping exercise” to show chains how many of their stores were within 10 or 20 miles of a minor league ballpark and could potentially do a brisk business selling the merch. Keep reading here.—AAN |
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E-COMMERCE Shopping spree  Illustration: Morning Brew, Photo: TikTok | Creator-led shopping and younger buyers are making shopping via social media platforms like TikTok Shop a big deal. Podean—a marketplace agency that works with merchants across platforms like Amazon, Walmart, and Target—has acquired Social Commerce Club, an agency that specializes in helping brands sell on TikTok Shop. Social Commerce Club is a specialized agency and TikTok Shop Platinum Partner that helps brands build and scale their presence on the platform. The agency handles creator-led sales and runs a creator network that connects brands with the right influencers to drive sales. “By combining this social expertise with our global marketplace pedigree, we are providing our clients with an unmatched ability to not just drive TikTok Shop sales but leverage that impact across other e-commerce channels including Amazon and their own website sales,” Travis Johnson, CEO of Podean, said in a statement. Keep reading here.—VC |
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LABOR Contest case  Getty Images | What’s the real value in a good pitch? For the world’s largest cosmetics company, it’s the brain behind it. Each year, L’Oréal hosts its Brandstorm innovation competition, where teams of three young professionals present pitches that address one of the conglomerate’s business needs. Through the competition, which wraps in mid-June, top teams get the opportunity to work with experts at L’Oréal to develop their pitches and learn more about the company’s business processes. While the competition may seem product-focused, the cosmetics giant actually views it as a lucrative talent acquisition opportunity. The winning team is awarded with a three-month program at L’Oréal’s Paris headquarters, during which they can test their project’s viability under the tutelage of the company’s experts. They’re also hired into the company’s management trainee program. Even some of those who don’t win walk away with a prize: L’Oréal hires as many as 500 competition participants each year. Keep reading here on HR Brew.—PM |
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Sponsored By Audiense  | Painting a complete picture. To scale omnichannel ads, you need omnidata. Audiense’s latest guide explains how a complete signal foundation helps unlock Meta omnichannel optimization for retail brands and prevent lost revenue. See the difference that clean, complete, server-side signals can make when you get the guide. |
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swapping skus | Today’s top retail reads. North toll: President Trump issued a proclamation imposing an additional 50% tariff on a range of Canadian exports. (CBC) Cracked under pressure: Mars Wrigley is expected to lay off about 300 employees as it moves its headquarters from New Jersey to Chicago. (Fox Business) Peak form: Clothing brand Reformation is aiming for a $1 billion valuation ahead of its IPO. (Retail Dive) *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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