Coverage of brick-and-mortar retail, department stores, supermarkets, and physical commerce trends.
Chewy’s 10-Q, Petco’s Q2 call and IDEXX’s CoVetAI deal point to both pet chains guiding to 25 or more new veterinary clinics for 2027 by their March earnings calls. Chewy’s two-teams line is the tell.
Costco UK, 29 warehouses with no on-demand delivery partner, is likely to appear on Uber Eats or Deliveroo by March 31, 2027. Three signals from the past month, led by Uber and DoorDash going nationwide in the US, point to the UK as the next box on Costco’s per-country checklist.
The Cato Corporation will close about 120 stores in fiscal 2026 after adding roughly 70 lease-end exits on September 18, citing pressure on customers’ discretionary income. Second-quarter sales fell 6% and gross margin dropped to 32.8%, while a $5.7 million IEEPA tariff refund had flattered the first quarter.
Costco reports fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 results on September 24 with net sales of $93.9 billion already disclosed and consensus EPS near $6.54. Gasoline inflation, tariff refunds and renewal rates will decide how the print is read.
TJX, Ross and Burlington are likely to guide at least 400 combined net new stores for calendar 2027, a record for the trio, when they report fourth-quarter results in late February to early March 2027. Three August earnings tells point that way: a raised TJX target with a 4% pace, two in-year plan raises at Ross, and a 115-store, $875 million capex year at Burlington.
Marks & Spencer has put Too Good To Go surprise bags of surplus bakery items into more than 350 M&S Food stores, priced at £3.80 with a £10.20 minimum value. The move follows a trial and months of scrutiny over food in M&S bins.
Tesco has made Whoosh rapid delivery free on orders over £25 from 14 September 2026 to 11 January 2027, but only for Anytime Delivery Saver members who join by 18 October. Here is what the offer saves, what it excludes and how it stacks up against Sainsbury’s, Asda and Ocado.
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.