Carlos Mendez 
From July 19, 2026, large EU companies can no longer destroy unsold clothes, accessories and footwear and must resell, donate or recycle them instead. Medium-sized firms follow in 2030, with fines and annual disclosure rules backing the ban.
U.S. retailers are on track to move a record 2.47 million containers through the nation’s ports this month, even as ocean freight rates finally start …
Three signals from June and July 2026 (a live payments rail, a platform at general availability, and an agentic hiring wave) point to agentic checkout becoming a named sales channel before year-end. Expect at least one major US retailer to cite agent-referred or proxy sales in Q3 or Q4 investor commentary.
Kroger is likely to formalize a structured price-investment program under Greg Foran, its version of the Walmart US everyday-value playbook, most plausibly confirmed at Q2 earnings in September 2026. Three signals from the last month, Foran’s pricing critique, resumed store closures, and accelerating retail-media profit, point to a self-funded reset.
Stripe and private equity firm Advent International have offered more than $53 billion, or $60.50 a share, to buy PayPal. The unsolicited bid marks one of the largest deals in payments history and faces steep antitrust hurdles.
French underwear brand Le Slip Français listed on Euronext Growth Paris on Bastille Day at 14.80 euros a share. The micro-cap listing is a bet that made-in-France apparel can win as Shein and Temu face tougher EU rules.
Two hard regulatory deadlines (the UK FCA regime on 15 July and the EU’s CCD2 on 20 November) and a capital squeeze point to a wave of European BNPL consolidation in H2 2026. The thesis is structural: fewer independent providers, larger and more bank-like survivors.
The CBI’s June Distributive Trades Survey shows UK retail sales volumes falling at their sharpest annual rate in over a year, with trade judged the weakest for the season since early 2024. Stalled consumer confidence, sticky inflation and a 3.75% Bank Rate leave retailers facing a gloomy start to summer.
Shopify unveiled its Summer ’26 Editions on June 17 with more than 150 updates, pulling AI merchandising and checkout customization into the core platform. A hard June 30 sunset of Shopify Scripts adds urgency for merchants.
Three fresh capital signals from Walmart, Target and Amazon point to warehouse automation becoming US retail’s defining capex line. Expect sustained or raised supply-chain capex at August earnings and a new step-change program before holiday 2026.