This Week in Retail: Cinco de Mayo and May the 4th

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The customer’s always journeying: Retail, like life, is about the journey—the customer journey, that is. In our State of Stores report, we dive into how retailers need to use every tool in their kit (including the POS) to meet the ever-expanding expectations of today’s shoppers. Read it here.

May the 4th be with you for those who celebrate. The annual celebration of all things Star Wars is today, and Disney is cashing in on the fan-fueled event with the release of dark side themed products on the Disney Store and in Disney Park. Lego is also joining the fun with the release of a special set based on the upcoming film Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.

Here’s what else is going on in retail this week:

In holidays: The other big holiday this week is Cinco de Mayo, and that means a surge in avocado sales. Second only to the Super Bowl, the holiday is a boon for the guacamole ingredient. According to the latest publicly available data from the Hass Avocado Board, 59.8 million units of avocados were sold on Cinco de Mayo in 2024, just behind the number of units sold around the Super Bowl at 62.3 million. For Cinco de Mayo 2025, Mexico exported more than 96,000 tons of avocados to meet demand. Historically, beer and alcohol are also big sellers.

In openings: Primark is opening a flagship location at Manhattan’s Herald Square, marking a milestone in the Irish fashion chain’s US expansion. The company already has flagship stores in other global capitals such as London and Rome, and the new location will join their ranks with more than 54,000 square feet of retail space aimed at capturing commuters and tourists.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the US, Barnes & Noble is returning to downtown Seattle with a new 18,000-square-foot location. The bookseller’s previous location in the city’s downtown area closed in 2020 after 22 years in business.

In renovations: 7-Eleven’s efforts to reinvent itself continue this month with more store renovations aimed at boosting food and beverage sales by expanding kitchens and coolers to fit more drinks and chilled food. The long-term plan is to renovate and modernize roughly 7,000 stores in North America, while opening 1,300 new locations by 2030.

In product releases: In other beverage news, McDonald’s is rolling out a series of signature drinks chainwide this Wednesday, including caffeinated flavored lemonades and “dirty sodas” such as a Dr Pepper with vanilla flavoring and cold foam. The fast-food giant said beverages represent a $100 billion opportunity, and has signaled that it plans to capture a greater share of the category with the goal of driving incremental visits. Executives may have more to say about the initiative this Thursday when they report Q1 earnings.