Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the full swing of conference season—but before we get into that, if you were wondering why Grimace hijacked the McDonald’s Twitter account, it’s because his limited-edition purple milkshake drops today. Someone please taste test it and report back.
In events: The Retail Innovation Conference and Expo starts Tuesday and runs through Thursday, and features presentations, discussions, and demonstrations on innovations across the retail world.
- Notable speakers include Dominique Essig, Walmart’s VP and GM of conversational commerce; Giovanni Zaccariello, SVP of global visual experience at Coach; and Natalie Cotter, Liquid Death’s director of digital retail.
Meanwhile, the Evercore ISI Annual Consumer and Retail Conference will feature fireside chats with executives who will broadcast the discussions on their company sites. On Tuesday, Tom Curtis, president of Burger King US & Canada will speak, and on Thursday, we’ll hear from Andre Maciel, EVP and global CFO of Kraft Heinz, and Steve Cahillane, chairman and CEO of Kellogg Company.
In openings: Apple plans to open roughly 50 retail stores over the next four years. One of them, in London’s famed Battersea Power Station, opens its doors Thursday.
- The tech giant will open new stores in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and North America, and will also remodel several existing locations.
In earnings: Kroger will host its Q1 earnings call on Thursday. CEO Rodney McMullen is determined to merge with Albertsons despite antitrust litigation and union pushback, and has said the company will fight it out in court if need be.
McMullen and Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran even penned a joint opinion piece in the Cincinnati Enquirer in April staking out their position.