• Walmart Expands Health Care Format
    Walmart Health, which debuted in September 2019 in Georgia, is expanding. The company will open seven more locations in Georgia by the end of the fiscal year, two in the Chicago area this fall, and at least seven locations in Florida in 2021. Half of the visits to Walmart Health are for primary care, while the other half are for specialty care such as optometry, dental and behavioral health needs, according to Chain Store Age.
  • Startup Aims To Curb Plastic Waste With New Cucumber Coatings
    Apeel Sciences is launching its “plastic-free’” English cucumbers at more than 100 Walmarts this month. “The cucumbers will be coated in an edible substance that Apeel has made from materials found in plants (think banana leaves), creating an invisible barrier that can’t be seen, felt, or tasted,” according to Fortune. “This layer extends shelf life by keeping moisture inside the cucumber and keeping oxygen out—two factors that lead to spoilage.”
  • Ralph Lauren Faces Huge Reorganization, Layoff
    Ralph Lauren is laying off 15% or 3,600 of its employees in a reorganization that aims to streamline global operations and accelerate a plan for long-term growth. “The $6.16 billion apparel giant has been evaluating the company’s cost structure, focusing on team organizational configuration, real estate footprint including distribution centers and corporate offices,” according to Sourcing Journal.
  • Detroit Auto Show Moving To September 2021
    After cancelling its show this past June due to COVID-19, organizers of the Detroit auto show (formally known as the North American International Auto Show) are now moving the date to next September. Historically held in January, the show had been scheduled for a new early summer time slot before the pandemic hit. The January show had been “buffeted for a couple of years by intensifying competition from the Consumer Electronics Show and growing indifference by German automakers,” according to Forbes. The latest blow was the Los Angeles auto show announcing it would move its November 2020 show to May …
  • Saks Fifth Avenue CEO Offers Advice For Retailers
    Retail isn’t dying, despite the headlines, says Saks Fifth Avenue CEO Marc J. Metrick, pointing out that Amazon, at its core, is a retailer. “When people frown upon the industry, more often than not they are thinking of department stores, which have become a ‘dirty word’ in retail,” he says. “But rather than write them off, we should see this industry as primed for a reinvention. And, while it may sound self-serving, the luxury category is where the resurgence of the American department store can happen.”
  • Ruth Bader Ginsburg Left A Mark On Businesses
    Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday from pancreatic cancer, is best known for helping to eliminate gender discrimination. “But her sense of justice, and quest for fairness, extends to many corners of work and business,” according to Forbes. One such case was Ledbetter vs. Goodyear, for which Ginsburg wrote the dissenting opinion that called on lawmakers for a legislative fix. Soon after Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
  • Sandy Hook Promise Beats Out Jeep, Amazon, Apple, P&G To Win Emmy
    BBDO NY and Smuggler won a prime-time Emmy on Saturday for a PSA for the Sandy Hook Promise, which had been nominated for two consecutive years without winning. The spot “powerfully urged viewers not to accept a new normal where school shootings in America become acceptable,” according to Muse by Clio. Other nominees in the category included Amazon, Apple AirPods, Jeep and Procter & Gamble.
  • Pandemic Prompts Museum To Sell Art
    The Brooklyn Museum is putting 12 works up for auction at Christie’s next month to raise funds for the care of its collection, a practice known as deaccessioning that "has long been taboo," according to The New York Times. But in light of the pandemic's economic impact, The Association of Art Museum Directors announced that, through April 10, 2022, it would not penalize museums that “use the proceeds from deaccessioned art to pay for expenses associated with the direct care of collections.”
  • Wayfair Expands 'Way Day'
    Way Day 2020 — Wayfair’s annual sales extravaganza and its answer to Amazon’s famous Prime Day — will be a two-day affair this year, kicking off on Sept. 23 at 12 a.m. ET. The event will include free shipping and up to 80% off best-selling products across all major categories, with more than 200,000 items included, according to Wayfair, an online home furnishings retailer.  “Now more than ever, comfort at home is top of mind for our customers,” Steve Oblak, chief merchandising officer, Wayfair, tells Chain Store Age.
  • NYC Council Votes To Allow Restaurants To Charge COVID-19 Surcharge
    The New York City Council passed the COVID-19 recovery charge bill, allowing restaurants to implement a surcharge of up to 10% onto a customer’s bill, intended to "help struggling restaurants generate additional revenue," according to the New York City Hospitality Alliance. The bill goes to New York City mayor Bill de Blasio for his signature. The fee will be allowed for up to 90 days after indoor dining resumes at full capacity. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the city could resume indoor dining at 25% capacity on Sept. 30.
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