STORES

Alex Vuocolo

At a Walmart Supercenter in North Bergen, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Victor Lopez, 21, tapped the screen of his work-issued smartphone. Under a field labeled “Enter new price,” he punched in $10 for a bottle of barbeque sauce.

If it had worked, Lopez, a team leader, would have almost tripled the price of the item with a click of a button. But it didn’t, and that’s not due to some human or technical error. It was the whole point of the demonstration: to show that store associates are not able to use electronic shelf labels (ESLs) to raise prices arbitrarily.

“We cannot take prices up in the store,” Kyle Boyd, store manager of the supercenter, where about 90% of tags have been replaced with ESLs, told Retail Brew during a tour of the facility last month. “We can only take prices down in the store.”

The willingness to promote some pricing practices—as well as touting what it is characterizing as a technical stopgap in place to prevent price hikes at the store level—comes as Walmart faces political pushback that could determine the future of electronic shelf labels.

With lawmakers increasingly tying the technology to controversial pricing practices, the retail giant is making the case that ESLs won’t fundamentally change how prices are set.

Keep reading here.—AV

      

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Black Friday may still own the shopping basket, but October is when the early carts start rolling. Last holiday season, 39% of Roku holiday shoppers started buying in October, nearly matching those who waited for the traditional Black Friday window.

Translation? Retailers launching in November could already be fashionably late, minus the fashionable part.

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MARKETING

Screenshot via @MrPibb/YouTube

Sometimes all you need is a comeback.

In late 2025, Coca-Cola rolled out a new-and-improved Mr. Pibb with more caffeine and a new look, and in less than a year, the 54-year-old brand has nabbed the top spot on Morning Consult’s annual Fastest Growing Brands report.

Much of the remaining top 10 could be someone’s grocery list: Jimmy Dean scored the No. 2 spot, Snickers was No. 3, and Energizer was No. 5, while Sweet Baby Ray’s came in at No. 7 and Listerine at No. 9. Other household-name brands commonly found in grocery stores in the top 25 include Febreze, Marie Callender’s, McCormick, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Duracell, Hershey’s, Life Savers, Stouffer’s, and Knorr.

Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—KM

      

RETAIL

Molina86/Getty Images

We’re right in the middle of New York Fashion Week, and outside of the halls of high fashion, there are still a few retail-related events, soirees, and openings. Walmart is running a Fashion Pop-Up in downtown Manhattan through September 20. SAP is hosting an event today looking at the future of the fashion customer experience. And Rockefeller Center is still open to the public for live broadcasts of runway shows.

Here’s what else is going on in retail this week:

In data releases: The US Census Bureau is releasing its monthly retail sales numbers for August on Wednesday. The report for July showed sales declining 0.6% month over month—the first drop for the measure in nine months.

Keep reading here.—AV

      

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Today’s top retail reads.

Screen shots: Why retailers including Walmart, Walgreens, and Kroger are installing more screens for in-store ads. (Business Insider)

Dressed for success: Reformation reported that Q2 revenue increased about 24% year over year, and that it hopes to double its roughly 70-store fleet within five years. (Retail Dive)

Fuels rush in: How record US diesel prices are creating headaches for retail brands. (Axios)

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