Some consumers are growing weary of high restaurant prices and are choosing to stay home. "The typical away-from-home eating occasion still costs 3.4 times more than in-home food sourced from retail, new data shows," according to Supermarket News. "Up to 20% of U.S. workers work from home, which keeps 62.5% of the food dollar based on retail at-home sales, while 37.5% is based on away-from-home sales."

Walmart and Claire's are expanding their four-year-old partnership to 1,200 new stores. That means the fashion and jewelry brand is now available in 2,500 Walmart stores as well as the Walmart website and at 360 Claire’s stores-within-stores at various Walmart locations. "The retailers said their collaboration lets Claire’s extend its 'experience-driven shopping environment' and piercing services to new customers while helping Walmart establish itself as a destination for fashion," per Pymnts.

Citing losses, Wegmans is discounting its self-checkout app in which customers scanned their groceries as they shopped. “The company did not specify the amount of losses or indicate whether they were from thefts or from customers who forgot to scan certain items, but it said in a statement that it was discontinuing the app’s use until it could make improvements ‘that will meet the needs of our customers and business,’” per The New York Times.  

The final hearse carrying the body of Queen Elizabeth II is a vehicle she helped design, a custom-designed Jaguar meant especially for the royal family. The vehicle "appears to be a heavily-stretched Jaguar sedan with a large glass rear and a massive hood ornament, which is a silver-plated bronze statue of St. George slaying a dragon, which was the Queen's mascot and also appeared as a hood ornament on her Bentley limousine," per The Drive. Since she died in Balmoral, Scotland, her funeral procession had a long way to travel back to London and as a result, the first hearse carrying her body was …

Despite a strong second quarter that included record revenue, Rent The Runway is planning to shed almost a quarter of its corporate employees by year's end. Executives tell analysts they are pleased with the company’s performance and that the restructuring is meant to help the site reach profitability more quickly. The clothing and accessories rental company has shaken up its model more than once, including shifting its assortment to add workwear to its special-occasion focus.

Bed Bath & Beyond has released the long-anticipated list of which of its stores will face closures. "The struggling home goods retailer said it will close about 150 namesake stores as it works to stabilize its finances and turn around declining sales," per CNBC. "The company is also laying off employees and secured more than $500 million in new financing." The list of "lower producing" locations represents about 20% of its namesake stores. 

Butterball’s 2022 Thanksgiving Outlook Report indicates people are excited for Thanksgiving, with nearly 90% of Americans planning to celebrate in 2022. Concerns about the pandemic are shrinking, but anxiety about inflation, particularly at the grocery store, are driving the need to get creative with cutting costs, per Supermarket News. 

Ikea is partnering with a solar technology and energy services provider to begin selling home solar energy solutions in California. “The U.S. subsidiary of the Swedish furniture and home goods giant is teaming up with SunPower Corp. to enable embers of the Ikea Family customer loyalty program to purchase home solar solutions, available through SunPower, at select stores in California,” per Chain Store Age. Customers can learn more about the home solar offering in Ikea California stores and online.

Amazon said it is planning to raise pay and benefits for its delivery drivers -- investing $450 million -- "to ensure sufficient staffing for the peak holiday season"  in a tight labor market, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In an all-day investors meeting, Starbucks highlighted technology "it plans to begin using over the next three years to get food and drink orders to customers faster while cutting down on the work done by employees," according to The New York Times. "It also pointed to high-growth markets like China, where it intends to open thousands of additional stores."