Amazon, Walmart AI detect ‘made in USA’ fraud but do not flag it, study says at Reuters. “When the ​AI bots are queried on why the companies are not doing more to combat the false labeling, the AI-driven ​chatbots have cited business justifications. When researchers asked Walmart’s Sparky why it does not flag suspicious “made in USA” claims, it responded that the FTC typically enforces “made in USA” rules against manufacturers, not retailers.” Reuters subs.

 

Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. Q1 net sales +17.7% / comp store sales +4.7% Press release

 

eBay settles for nearly $56M after former employees terrorize EcommerceBytes founders at USA Today. “…began with threatening messages on social media and “vulgar emails” before escalating into deliveries of live insects, a bloody pig mask, pornography, a funeral wreath and a book about surviving the death of a spouse…employees also posted fake Craigslist ads using the couple’s home address, sent explicit magazines to neighbors, conducted in-person surveillance…” Read more

 

Canada Goose Q1 revenue +10.3% / DTC comp sales -3.2% Press release

 

Inside Ikea’s big bet on humans in the age of AI at Fortune. “As the company has used AI to absorb routine customer service work, it has also retrained roughly 8,500 call center employees to handle more complex customer queries or work as sales-oriented design consultants.” Fortune subs.

 

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. Q2 net sales +5.0% / comp sales -1.0% Press release

 

Amazon closing in on CPG retail leader Costco at Numerator. “Costco continues to expand its lead over Sam’s Club. Among current Sam’s Club shoppers, Amazon gained +0.8 share points of CPG spending compared with +0.4 points for Costco year over year.” Press release

 

Sam’s Club Taps Singer Maren Morris for Fall Collection WWD subs.

 

Kohl’s Announces New Chair of the Board “Wendy Arlin…has served as a Director of Kohl’s since December 2023…She held leadership roles at L Brands, Inc. for nearly 20 years and most recently served as EVP, CFO of Bath & Body Works, Inc…through her retirement in July 2023.” Press release

 

Wing launches Walmart delivery service in Orlando “Following successful launches in Houston, Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth, Wing and Walmart are now looking to reach more service areas including Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami and Philadelphia.” Read more

 

John Oliver dares Buc-ee’s to sue him with ‘Buc-Off’ challenge at USA Today. “The show created a cartoon logo of Mr. Nutterbutter that looks similar to the Buc-ee’s logo and put the logo on a variety of products, including tumblers, hats, shirts, onesies, mugs and pajamas, among other items. The items are available for purchase for a limited time at Buc-Off.com.” Read more

 

McKinsey: The State of Luxury: What US and Chinese clients reveal about the sector’s future Read more

 

Walmart Publishes FY2026 ESG Report (Sourced 53.3% of its global electricity from renewables / Reduced operational emissions by 7.5% year-over-year) Press release/Report