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August 29, 2025 14 mins

US retail news: Walmart marketplace AI and next‑day delivery, Gap’s denim push, Best Buy’s refurb engine, Cracker Barrel’s logo U‑turn, plus A&F × NFL.

Subscribe for weekly retail strategy.

  • American Eagle’s latest ambassador buzz & denim wars

  • Gap’s creative burst and the renewed denim cycle

  • Best Buy repairs/refurb: sustainability with margins

  • Cracker Barrel brand mark reversal - what it signals

  • Walmart Seller Summit: tools for speed, content, conversion

  • Bonus: A&F becomes the NFL’s official fashion partner
    🎥 Chapters below • 💬 Tell us which move changes your Q4 plan
    Opinions are our own. No non‑public info shared.


00:00 Welcome — Five Things Friday (USA)

00:00:37 American Eagle buzz + Swift/Kelce mentions

00:01:40 GAP comeback & the denim push

00:02:51 Best Buy: repairs/refurb & NRF Europe preview

00:03:58 Cracker Barrel logo U‑turn (brand identity)

00:05:55 Walmart Seller Summit: marketplace AI & next‑day

00:09:35 Bonus: A&F × NFL — official fashion partner

00:12:44 Sports as pop culture: F1, Savannah Bananas

00:13:31 Sign‑off + Paris (NRF Europe) teaser


#RetailNews #RetailTrends #AIinRetail #TheRetailPodcast #USRetail


Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It's Friday. Welcome to Five Things Friday,
the USA edition. Hello, Jill, How are you?
Great to be back. How are you Alex it?

(00:22):
Feels like it's been a lifetime.I'm doing really well.
I'm in London and you know, I always want to talk and there's
so much more to say. We need to really crack on this
week and so for us. Yes.
Right, let me see who's starting.
I think I'm gonna start actually, although I know you're
a massive Swifty so this is for you must.
Not be Elsa. He has been invited by American

(00:44):
eagle based on the success of some of the other campaigns
people have heard about to look at, you know, what American
eagles doing, how they're going to market be an ambassador beer.
And in this he's, uh, clip on Instagram, he's actually going
through giving his whether or not, you know, they're fashion
icons or right, right, I don't know.
About the fashion from him. But you know, look, they're
doing a collab. So together the two powerhouses,

(01:07):
they're going to be great. Look, it was unbelievable news
here this week in the US. They are essentially EU SS
version of a royal family or Swift.
Travis Kelsey getting engaged onMonday.
All sorts of Easter eggs in the announcement, all sorts of
things being dripped that may ormay not be coming for the next
year for both of them. So I'm sure we'll talk about

(01:29):
them again moving forward. Congratulations to them.
Congratulations to American Eagle folks.
Congratulations to American Eagle for getting him.
Exactly, exactly. One thing that's kind of funny
is the Gap has been, you know, really on an incredible terror
lately and really a, you know, acomeback of sorts.
The Gap brand, they own Banana Republic and Old Navy and

(01:51):
Athleta, but the Gap parent brand with Richard Dixon as
their CEO, they really have turned a corner and are getting
much more into the zeitgeist of of the customer that they're
that they used to have. And they came out with some
really great commercials last week.
And you really just see all these denim companies really
pushing hard and, you know, collaborating with the the top

(02:13):
celebrities in the world and, you know, they're competing with
each other anyway, but this is just levelling up the playing
field. There were, you know, all sorts
of, I think it was Cat's eye andall sorts of music stars in the
gap video. So denim is a whole hot new
place to. Be head to toe in denim NRF.
I'm sporting denim myself so. If denim doesn't have stretch,

(02:36):
it's not for me, so it needs to have some stretch in it.
They have to be soft. I remember Matt Shea when he was
interviewing Levi and he comes out in his jacket, but we won't
go there his. Jacket.
I loved it. Yeah.
All right, what's our next one? Next one Best Buy.
Best Buy is incredible. So Best Buy, you know, it's
interesting, We always talk a lot about being green and

(02:58):
sustainable and wanting businesses to do more.
Well, Best Buy is actually putting their where their mouth
is. They're doing a tonne of these
refurbishments and repairs for small things.
Sometimes it's as simple as, youknow, a scratch on the outside
and people return the fridge on site.
So there's a lot that can be done with these really
expensive, frankly very low margin pieces of equipment.

(03:22):
And so they're really taking an advantage and it's, you know,
they've exceeded their forecast for Q2 and teaser.
If you're interested in Best Buy, I will be in Paris at NRF
Europe interviewing the Chief Sustainability and Chief Supply
Chain Officer, Mark Irvin there and he's going to talk a lot
about this. Yeah, I think recycle, upcycle,

(03:42):
reuse in electronics, consumers need brands like Best Buy and
Currys over here in the UK to keep pushing us and saying, hey,
don't get rid of it, we can, we can work with it.
So that's phenomenal news. I think we're staying with you
for this one's really interesting.
I'm really curious about what's going on over here.
Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel, it's, you know,

(04:05):
I don't think they've ever been in the news as much as they have
been this really last week and this week.
It is a restaurant chain that isknown for kind of the good home
country. It's biscuits, it's gravy, it's
pancakes, it's heavy. They also have an incredible
store when you walk in. So they redesigned their logo
last week, came out with it essentially removing all, you

(04:28):
know, identity and emotion from it.
And it's just the words now, Nowthe 32nd history of what a
Cracker Barrel is. I'm such a nerd.
You know, crackers used to come in giant oak barrels delivered
to restaurants, delivered to, you know, companies so they
wouldn't crack and break in transit.

(04:49):
So that barrel that you see in the initial logo on the left,
that's how they used to transport them.
That's the name. So you have an older gentleman
sitting in a chair. It just brings grandpa visions,
right? The new one, not so much.
It really is just it's, it's even a different font, it's a
different shape. It's nothing is the same.
Huge backlash here in America this last week and this week

(05:11):
over it. And then Cracker Barrel
announced just a few days ago, they're going back to the
original logo, $7.00 later, they're going back to the logo.
The gentleman who led the project, I don't know if he quit
or was asked to leave, but it just, it was a bit of a
kerfuffle. I got you.
I mean, look, we've had our own like with the Jaguar Motor
Company here getting getting really lots of bad, bad press,

(05:35):
but now people are sort of saying it wasn't that bad a
thing to do. But anyway, OK if.
Any is any press really bad press?
Is the question what and how great is that for Cracker
Barrel, right? I'd be curious.
To say never have your. Sales have gone.
Yeah, I you are not going to drive past a Cracker Barrel and
not think about it now. Yeah, exactly.
Moving on swiftly, Walmart. So Walmart had their partner

(05:57):
day. Let me see, 2 days ago, I think
it was August 26th, Seller Summit.
And so they rolled out a flurry of marketplace upgrades, AI
listing tools, smart assistant speed catalogue creation, fee
breaks, faster deliver promises expanded next day and pilots
that showcase items within the store, which is fantastic for

(06:20):
their big selection of partners.I guess which?
It is, yeah. I mean, how many thousands or
millions of sellers do they have?
So just to to automate that experience and to get the
products online faster, more, you know, consistency across
what you're selling, what it looks like, the photo quality,
all of that. I mean, AI, that's that's where

(06:40):
AI shines right now. And really nobody's doing a
better job right now in AI applications than Walmart.
And you know, they really, they can continue to just come out
with not only these B to B wins for their partners, but really
on the B to C side because it affects how you shop them and
what you see. I mean, no one wants to do a

(07:01):
search and see 6,000,000 results.
You, you want some curation, youknow, but you want to be able to
control your destiny. And that's what a lot of these
AI tools are able to do. It's really able to agentically
make decisions on the searcher or on the business's behalf
based on intent and context and serve up something that's
relevant. So, you know, we're we're

(07:23):
certainly going to see a lot of these tools be the way most
companies are going to need to compete in the future.
Absolutely. And I think what this does
specifically for Walmart, it's closing the gap on Amazon's
seller experience, right? And in terms of Walmart having a
physical footprint as a differentiator, if third party

(07:44):
items gain real in aisle exposure, then the lines between
Walmart owned and marketplace inventory blurs and shoppers
trust will rise, Which for brands who want to tap into that
Walmart powerhouse, which it is in the US, you know, it becomes
a phenomenal, I think experiencefor consumers because they have

(08:05):
an expanded assortment that usesAI to optimise the content.
It chases higher conversion and we're faster basically getting
your logo out there. And I think again marketplace
are a growth engine and Walmart I think is now closing that gap
with Amazon with this type of technology LED push within their

(08:27):
marketplace area. Yeah, the other big announcement
they made at the seller Summit was around next day delivery.
So in some metro areas now, but it's expanding to many more of
those metro areas now. So next day I will say I've
gotten a lot of things from Walmart same day.
I'm right outside the Washington, DC region, so it's

(08:49):
quite dense, but they, they are getting right there in terms of
competition with Amazon's turn time.
So, you know, it's, it's pretty,it's heating up and, and really
the customer wins. You know what, what is hard
obviously is the rest of retail in the US, not everyone can
compete at the scale of same dayor next day delivery.

(09:11):
So what are the value props there?
You know, how can other retailers and members of NRF
really differentiate themselves if it's not speed to your door?
So that's something obviously wework a lot on and and you know,
figuring out the value prop that's what any good business
does. And I and I think just picking
up your line and bringing the heat, I think that line

(09:33):
perfectly falls to the NFL when we think about what's going on
at the NFL. It's, I mean, look, it's it's
hot and heavy preseason here. Kickoff is coming right up.
So Abercrombie and Fitch, Speaking of denim again, they're
known for a lot of denim and they have been doing incredibly
well. Fran Horowitz has really done a

(09:54):
fantastic. Job shares when their share, I
mean I can't I think it's or something.
It's unbelievable. She's been there a little more
than a decade, I think, and it'sreally amazing.
So now they have partnered with the NFL, they they are going to
be the official fashion partner of the NFL.
So I absolutely cannot wait. Obviously they're going to have

(10:17):
jackets and things with NFL teamnames on them, but I'm really
interested to see how far they can kind of take those licences
and play with it. Because look, NFL players used
see those under the tunnel videos when they walk in, they
are not just wearing jeans and AT shirt, they are in head to
toe Prada and Gucci and all sorts of outfits.

(10:39):
Yeah, now to see like how are they going to kind of play
together? It'll be fascinating to watch
those, you know, those walk in moments.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure you'll getthat elite group of, you know,
really handsome, really cool players that will probably be
like, yeah, this is this, this is great.
This is on brand for me. And then obviously, and that's
the diversity of the NFL player,whatever you call it, the the,

(11:03):
the pool of talent that they have to choose from.
Just as you said, I've seen people go come out in suits and
then what game are you going to?What game?
Yeah, it looks like they're going to the Met Gala or it
looks like they're going to Cracker Barrel down the street.
You never know. Which which?
You know, but I will, I will sayAbercrombie and Fitch, outside

(11:24):
of just denim, their fashion hasexploded.
They've done really, really wellin terms of crawling back up the
age demographic. It used to be much more the high
school, maybe college brand aspirational.
The models were beautiful and, you know, just a brand you
wanted to be associated with even back in my day.

(11:44):
Now they have tamed their marketing a bit.
It's not quite as shirtless malemodels, and it's much more about
what would you actually do in the clothes.
It's a little more lifestyle, still aspirational, but they've
definitely started moving up theage demographic and attracting
some of the customer they used to have when we were, you know,

(12:05):
back in the high school college days.
So good. Good job for them.
Yeah. And I think it's the one thing
that over the next five years, retailers are going to have to
really double down on, is this Gen X, Gen Z, Gen Alpha staying
relevant? How am I going to stay relevant?
How am I? And that bleeds into sports,
right? Because I think NBA numbers for

(12:26):
some part of the season, we're actually down year on year.
And so it's how do these powerhouses of, you know, the US
sporting calendar maintain that relevance to a generation that
plays it online? And is and is so.
And they're, whether it's baseball or football, I mean,
there's always so much going on what they're.
Doing just quickly last one, thebaseball, the bananas.

(12:48):
Are they're bananas? They are so and they were just
in Washington a couple weeks ago.
No, it's it's really incredible to watch kind of the
entertainment and the sports elements join together and
figure outlook F1 all of these. I mean, it's just filled with
celebrities now. So it's it makes it fun and look

(13:09):
makes it fun for a non fan to watch some of these games now
too, right. You can bring in your own pop
culture knowledge and you don't seem, you don't seem as dull at
the party. No, I think.
Well anyway, I've been to a few baseball games, taking a 5 hour
institution and keeping that andbringing Razzle and Dazzle into
it, and I think the NFL does superbly well, I think.

(13:31):
Really well. Jill, as always, thank you so
much for carving some time out to talk to us.
I know how busy you are. NRF Europe, NRF Big Show just
around the corner times. Cannot wait.
We will be talking, I'm sure, when we're in Paris Live 1. 100%
looking forward to it. Until then, thank you and I
appreciate all the fun.
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