News Briefs

Disney will open Mickey & Friends Holiday Village – an immersive pop-up marketplace in Los Angeles, CA, on November 4 and 5. 

The shoppable experience will feature products from over 70 collections including Baublebar, Forever 21, Loungefly, shopDisney, Stoney Clover Lane and more. The holiday village will transport guests into a festive wonderland full of Mickey & Friends, including gifts, treats and photo ready backdrops. 

The experience is complimentary and guests can register to attend online starting today. Opening hours will be 12pm – 9pm PT. A stand-by line will be available open during operating hours on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The experience has an online component for those that can't attend in person. Disney's Mickey & Friends Holiday Village online offers hundreds of holiday products November 4 – January 7.

Mickey & Friends Holiday Village experiences include:

• The Wintery Mickey & Friends Chalets will showcase the latest collections from select brands like Baublebar, Forever21, Loungefly, shopDisney and more are available for purchase on site. Stoney Clover Lane will be offering an exclusive holiday-inspired collection only available for purchase at the Mickey & Friends Holiday Village and while supplies last.
• Mickey's Magic Post Office offers a seasonal interactive experience with light and sound, alerting guests of a holiday mail delivery.
• Mickey & Friends' Holiday House allows visitors to pose for a shareable Disney Holiday themed postcard with friends.
• Festive treats are available for purchase at Chip n' Dale's Cocoa Caravan.
• A hands-on demo of the 2D platform adventure game featuring Mickey & Friends, Disney Illusion Island, is available. 

The TJX Companies shut down online shopping on HomeGoods.com October 21, 2023, just two years after launching its online shopping experience.

The off-price retailer, which owns HomeGoods, T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, Sierra, and Homesense, made the decision to focus its resources on its more than 900 brick-and-mortar stores across the United States, according to a statement provided to RIS. 

As of last Saturday, HomeGoods stopped taking orders from customers, but the retailer said it will complete its final shipments.

“HomeGoods.com will continue to provide décor inspiration and trends for our customers,” it said, and stated that shopping at online sister sites www.tjmaxx.com, www.marshalls.com, and www.sierra.com, “will not be affected by this decision.”

According to a recent quarterly SEC report filed by TJX, net sales from the e-commerce sites combined amounted to less than 2% of total sales for each of the second quarters of fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2023, as well as each of the first six months of fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2023. Meanwhile, the company’s HomeGoods e-commerce website represented less than 1% of HomeGoods net sales for both the second quarter and the first six months of fiscal 2024.

As the off-price retailer looks to refocus on the physical, it confirmed all of the associates affected by this decision have been offered other jobs within the company. 

Wholesale food retailer US Foods Chef’store is investing in supply chain efficiency, tapping into artificial intelligence and machine learning tech to bolster efforts and improve the customer experience. 

The company is partnering with RELEX Solutions to strengthen its forecasting, replenishment, space planning, promotion planning, and optimization efforts, which will impact the more than 85 Chef’stores locations across the U.S. 

[More Foods-Based Value Chain Investments: Sainsbury's, SpartanNash, and Casey’s Bolster Business Growth Efforts]

By tapping into this technology, the company can better forecast demand, optimize replenishment, automatically generate planograms to improve store layouts, and better plan out promotions to elevate the consumer experience. 

US Foods Chef’store said the investment will help drive additional operational efficiencies across merchandising planning as it focuses on “providing restauranters, smaller foodservice operators, and price-conscious community members the products they need, when they need it.”

Midwest grocer Hy-Vee is leveling up its micro fulfillment capabilities by powering its network of fulfillment centers with technology that is increasing productivity. 

The company has partnered with Takeoff Technologies in order to boost speed, accuracy, and reliability, allowing the retailer to fulfill an average of 25 items within five minutes of labor. Additionally, the tech company is reporting increased productivity of online fulfillment by up to 10 times. 

The technology is working alongside Hy-Vee’s aisles online grocery ordering system, increasing efficiency across ordering and fulfillment processes. Consumers should be able to access increased time slots and availability for order pickup as a result. 

Earlier this year, the company partnered with Uber to further support its fulfillment growth goals, introducing Uber delivery to over 260 Hy-Vee grocery and liquor stores. 

"Uber Eats has been growing in popularity among many of our customers, making this partnership a win-win for both parties," said Aaron Wiese, president, Hy-Vee, in an earlier statement. "As we expand our offerings, we want to be where our customers are comfortable placing an online order. This launch allows us another avenue to offer our products and best serve the needs of our shoppers."

The company is also on a pathway for digitizing efforts across the enterprise, recently even introducing its own omnichannel retail media network, RedMedia.

Lakeshore Learning, a retailer of educational materials for teachers and children, announced a new 1.22-million-square-foot distribution facility in Garland, UT.

This new facility will mark Lakeshore Learning's third distribution center in the United States and will feature state of the art automation and robotics. 

Lakeshore Learning officially broke ground on October 4 alongside company leadership, community partners, and local civic leaders including Linda Bourne (mayor of Garland), Stan Summers (Commissioner, Box Elder County), and Lyle Holmgren (mayor of Tremonton). The facility is expected to bring approximately 550 new jobs to the community.

"We are excited to announce the construction of Lakeshore Learning's latest distribution center in Garland, Utah," said Artin Ghazarian, chief supply chain officer at Lakeshore Learning. "This is a huge step forward for us and a testament to our commitment to scalability and growth both for our distribution center population as well as our customers."

The facility is expected to be fully operational in January 2025.

Ralph Lauren Corporation is expanding in Canada with the launch of dedicated digital commerce and the first Ralph Lauren store in the country.

The store, which recently opened in Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, is the first in a planned expansion in Canada, building on the retailer’s existing wholesale and outlet presence in the region. Toronto represents one of the company’s top 30 cities targeted for a comprehensive omni-channel ecosystem expansion globally.

Currently, Ralph Lauren has 12 outlet stores in Canada as well as a wholesale presence at key retailers, including Hudson’s Bay, Sporting Life and Harry Rosen. The Company plans to open a number of Ralph Lauren stores across the country in the coming years.

“Ralph Lauren’s ethos of timelessness and authenticity has inspired and connected with our Canadian consumers for decades, and we’re excited to bring a more holistic expression of our brand to Canada,” said Bob Ranftl, regional CEO for North America at Ralph Lauren Corporation. “We look forward to serving our consumers throughout Canada with enhanced and elevated experiences that reflect our luxury lifestyle point of view.”

The new RalphLauren.ca site will house Ralph Lauren’s full portfolio of brands, including Purple Label, Ralph Lauren Collection, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL and Lauren, across its breadth of Men’s, Women’s and Childrenswear assortments in apparel, accessories and footwear, in addition to select Home items. The company is planning to launch the English version of its Canadian digital commerce site on October 11. It will explore a future launch in Quebec with a French-language version.

The Ralph Lauren store, on the ground floor of Yorkdale Shopping Centre, offers an array of dedicated client services, including private styling appointments, alterations & repairs and Made-to-Measure tailoring. The store’s design includes a double-height façade, comprising of cherry wood louvers and aged-bronze metal, which gives way to a contemporary interior with bright, white walls and a limestone floor.