Coverage of brick-and-mortar retail, department stores, supermarkets, and physical commerce trends.
The John Lewis Partnership has opened 10,400 seasonal roles for Christmas 2026, a quarter fewer than last year, paying £13.00 to £14.80 an hour. Here is where the jobs are, how the pay compares with the legal minimum, and what the smaller call signals for the golden quarter.
The Food and Drink Federation now expects UK food inflation of 3.9% by Christmas 2026, down from the 9% to 10% it warned of in April, but with a 6.4% peak in July 2027. The revision lands days before the ONS August CPI print on 16 September.
Tesco has referred a fake “Tesco casino” advertised on Facebook and Instagram to City of London Police, the latest UK brand hijacked by unlicensed offshore casinos. Meta removed the adverts, but the site was still reachable and regulators say trademark misuse falls outside their remit.
Aldi is opening a new UK store every Thursday in September, with Rayleigh Weir Retail Park on 17 September and Hackney Road, Hoxton on 24 September still to come. The four-store run sits inside a £370m new-store budget for 2026 and a 1,500-shop ambition, as Worldpanel data shows Aldi’s market share slipping to 10.7% while Lidl gains.
Matalan puts a sharper, more premium-looking autumn/winter collection into stores and online on 12 September, backed by 40 store refits and a narrowing £54.7m loss. Here is what is in the range, who is running the reset and how it stacks up against Primark and Next.
Kroger beat on adjusted EPS at $1.09 but identical sales without fuel grew just 0.2% in the quarter to August 15, and the grocer cut its 2026 sales outlook to 0.2-0.8%. Profit guidance, a $1bn buyback and a 20% e-commerce gain cushion the miss ahead of an October 20 investor update.
Tesco has banned or restricted 114 additives across its own-brand ranges, up from 65 a year ago, barring artificial colours, aspartame and MSG outright. The UK’s largest grocer says 81% of its customers are trying to cut ultra-processed food, and it has added a no-additives filter to its online shop.
John Lewis Partnership’s first-half loss before exceptionals more than doubled to £89m as department store sales fell 2% and costs climbed, while Waitrose grew 4%. The employee-owned group is spending £600m this year and says it is cautious on the second half.
Kroger created two EVP seats in 22 days, and the quieter one predicts what the company says next. Signals point to a named, quantified store operations program landing before any marketplace pillar, most likely between December 2026 and March 2027.
Albertsons created an executive chair role and appointed former eBay and Hewlett-Packard chief Meg Whitman to it, effective September 8, 2026. The board expands to 11 seats as the grocer works through a cut fiscal 2026 forecast and the ACI Edge restructuring.