Mattel is instituting an initiative using the #ThankYouHeroes handle introduced by subsidiary Fisher-Price. From May 14 through May 17, for every Career Barbie sold at participating retailers, the brand will donate a Barbie to the First Responders Children’s Foundation, which is providing financial assistance to families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly half of shoppers are buying more groceries online due to COVID-19. U.S. online grocery sales grew 22% in 2019 and stand to surge about 40% this year, according to the Coresight Research U.S. Online Grocery Survey 2020. Of online purchasers, 34.9% said they’re buying more groceries because of coronavirus -- also the reason that 14.4% said they started shopping online for groceries.

Shake Shack is launching a social media series "in response to changing market conditions and a desire to bring value to a community of consumers tuned into the digital space during this time," according to QSR magazine. “Shake Shack at Your Shack” features weekly episodes where Shake Shack Culinary Director Mark Rosati and Executive Chef John Karangis host cook-along videos incorporating Shake Shack core ingredients. The first episode is live on Shake Shack's Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages.

One retailer is taking its times in formulating its plans to reopen, and for good reason. “Patagonia is held to a different set of standards than major publicly traded corporations based on its certification as a B Corp by a nonprofit called the B Lab, which legally requires the company to consider the interests of ‘workers, the community and the environment’ as well as shareholders,” according to The New York Times. “The brand’s approach is being tested by the pandemic. Patagonia must balance the future of its business, which it acknowledges could shrink, with the health and financial well-being of …

The nation’s largest mall owner, Simon Property Group, plans to have roughly 50% of its malls and outlet centers reopened again within the next week, as states begin to loosen their lockdown restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement was made during the company’s quarterly earnings report. Simon’s profits fell 20.2% during the first quarter ended March 31. 

Hyatt Hotels Corp. will lay off 1,300 of its corporate employees worldwide starting next month. Roughly a third (350) of the staff at its Chicago headquarters will be cut, a Hyatt spokesperson tells the Chicago Tribune. The American Hotel & Lodging Association last month reported that 70% of hotel employees have been laid off or furloughed as anemic occupancy rates across the country left eight out of every 10 hotel rooms empty.

The Shanghai Disney Resort is reopening with mandatory face masks and social distancing rules. Guests must have their temperature taken on arrival and be able to show show an all-clear green QR code from Shanghai’s official diagnostic app. Disney has not indicated when other parks might reopen, but it’s possible that resorts in the United States will be next.

Melitta, which has made coffee filters for 112 years, also owns Wolf PVG, which provided valuable knowledge and a supply of the three-ply microfiber needed to make masks to a hospital standard. “As Germany scrambles to find enough face masks to reopen the economy and public life while keeping the coronavirus at bay, a number of serious and not-so-serious businesses have jumped into the fray with masks,” according to The New York Times.

Ads shot at home using smartphones are quickly becoming the new normal. Eva Longoria shot an ad for L'Oréal herself at home, using a pair of iPhones. “With salons closed during lockdowns, demand for home hair-color treatments spiked, and L'Oréal—working with McCann in Paris and New York—sought to leverage that trend for its Excellence Crème line, even with commercial production at a standstill,” per Muse by Clio. “So, they asked longtime brand spokesperson Longoria to serve as auteur, and she delivered a perky, self-aware and wholly relatable experience."

Food trends from the beginning of the year like plant-based meat substitutes, low-alcohol/no-alcohol drinks, and products billed as organic or sustainable have been tossed out the window. “Now that we're all sheltering in place, convenient childhood food favorites — like hot dogs, soup and macaroni and cheese — are trumping the healthy options that prevailed pre-coronavirus,” per Axios. “Frozen foods (vegetables, pizzas, entrees) have seen historic sales increases, while canned goods and processed foods (soups, beans, tomato sauce) have been flying off supermarket shelves.”