Amazon Retreats From Physical Grocery 🛒

Amazon will shut down all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores, closing 57 Fresh locations and 15 Amazon Go outlets after concluding that the formats failed to deliver a distinctive customer experience or a scalable economic model. According to reports, some of the closed locations will be converted into Whole Foods stores, while California outlets will remain open longer to meet local regulations.

🥗 Go Grocery: Amazon said it expects to open more than 100 new Whole Foods Market stores over the next few years as it shifts focus toward the larger grocery chain. The company also plans to expand its Whole Foods Daily Shops, smaller-format stores offering a curated assortment of grocery items.

🔎 New Experiments: Amazon said it is testing new physical retail formats, including a store-within-a-store concept in Illinois that blends Amazon Grocery with Whole Foods Market. Separately, the company is developing a 229,000-square-foot big-box grocery store in a Chicago suburb, designed to resemble a Walmart-style superstore.

China’s Anta Sports Products has agreed to acquire a 29% stake in Puma for about $1.8 billion, marking one of the biggest deals by a Chinese apparel group in recent years.

According to a Bloomberg report, Anta will acquire about 43 million Puma shares from Artémis, the Pinault family’s holding company, at €35 per share, representing a 62% premium to Puma’s previous closing price, as disclosed in a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

For the Pinault family, the sale helps reduce debt at Artémis following recent acquisitions and allows it to narrow its focus back to luxury assets, including Kering and its flagship brand Gucci. Puma shares jumped sharply after the announcement.

Allbirds announced that it will close all of its remaining full-price stores in the United States by the end of February, accelerating its shift toward e-commerce as the footwear brand looks to restore profitability. The company will retain two outlet stores in the U.S. and continue operating two full-price locations in London.

Chief executive officer Joe Vernachio said the store closures are part of Allbirds’ broader turnaround strategy, aimed at cutting costs and shifting resources toward e-commerce and partnerships to drive profitable growth.

According to CNBC, the company’s third-quarter net revenue fell 23.3% year on year. U.S. store sales declined about 20% from the prior year, underscoring the pressure on its brick-and-mortar business. The sustainable footwear company now has a market capitalization of roughly $32 million, with its share price down more than 80% since its 2021 listing.

Instacart will power online grocery ordering for Costco Wholesale Corp. in Spain and France, marking the first expansion of the partners’ collaboration beyond North America, according to a Bloomberg report.

The move allows Costco customers in both countries to place digital grocery orders and access same-day delivery, as the retailer looks to strengthen its e-commerce offering overseas.

Instacart, which operates under its parent company Maplebear Inc., will provide white-label technology and fulfillment services rather than launching its own consumer-facing app in Europe. Chief executive officer Chris Rogers said Spain and France were chosen for their dense urban populations and established retail footprints, making them well-suited to rapid online grocery adoption.

Starbucks has posted its first increase in US sales in two years, signaling early progress in its turnaround under chief executive officer Brian Niccol. Same-store sales in the US rose 4% in the three months to December, beating market expectations, helped by higher footfall and slightly higher spending per customer.

Customer traffic increased 3% during the quarter, while the average transaction value rose 1%, suggesting more people are returning to stores despite higher prices. Revenue climbed 6% to $9.9 billion, above forecasts, even as labor costs, inflation, and tariffs weighed on profitability. Operating margins fell to 9%, and net profit dropped sharply.

The company will be spending about $500 million this year to add staff and improve service during peak hours, a key pillar of Niccol’s Back to Starbucks strategy.

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Adidas reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results and unveiled a €1 billion share buyback, signaling confidence in its turnaround as demand for retro sneakers and new performance lines lifts earnings.

Operating profit reached €164 million in the quarter, topping analyst estimates and pushing full-year profit slightly above the company’s October outlook.

The buyback, due to begin in February and funded through this year’s cash flow, will see repurchased shares canceled. Adidas said currency-neutral sales rose 10% in the quarter, although a weaker US dollar and tariffs cut revenue by more than €1 billion last year. Despite those headwinds, the group posted double-digit growth across regions.

Ocado Group suffered another setback in North America after a Canadian partner moved to shut a key automated distribution center using the UK group’s technology.

Empire, which owns the Sobeys supermarket chain, said it will close its Calgary facility, citing slower-than-expected growth in Alberta’s online grocery market. The decision dents Ocado’s ambitions to scale its warehouse automation model outside the UK.

The closure follows a similar retrenchment in the US, where Kroger recently shut three underperforming warehouses powered by Ocado systems as part of a broader review of its online operations. While Ocado received substantial compensation in that case, investor confidence took a hit, sending the company’s shares sharply lower.

Ocado said it expects to receive £18 million ($23 million) in compensation for the Alberta shutdown but stated that the move will reduce fee revenue by £7 million ($9 million) in the current financial year.

Saks Global will close the vast majority of its Saks Off 5th stores as it moves to cut costs following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing earlier this month. The company said it plans to shut all but 12 of its roughly 70 Saks Off 5th locations. The remaining stores will primarily be used to clear excess inventory from its luxury banners rather than operate as full-scale discount outlets.

Under the restructuring plan, Saks Off 5th will shift away from buying merchandise directly and instead act as a liquidation channel for goods from Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman.

Saks will also wind down Saksoff5th.com, which operates as a separate legal entity, and close all remaining Neiman Marcus Last Call outlet stores. Going-out-of-business sales have already begun online, with discounts reaching as high as 85%.

Levi Strauss & Co. posted a modest sales rebound in the fiscal fourth quarter, signaling that its multi-year turnaround effort is beginning to gain traction. Revenue rose 1% to $1.77 billion, beating Wall Street expectations, while organic sales climbed a stronger 5%, helped by price increases and a sharper focus on the core Levi’s brand.

Direct-to-consumer sales grew 8%, reinforcing Levi’s push to rely less on wholesale partners, where revenues fell 5%. Profit declined year on year, with net income slipping to $158 million, as higher costs weighed on margins. Chief executive officer Michelle Gass said the company is at an “inflection point,” pointing to tighter brand positioning and a narrower strategic focus.

Looking ahead, Levi struck a cautiously optimistic tone. The company forecast 5%–6% revenue growth for fiscal 2026 and adjusted earnings of $1.40–$1.46 a share, excluding its Dockers business, which is being sold.

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