October 05, 2026

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It’s Monday, and we bring news of a collab between M&M’s and nail care brand OPI. It’s a collection of polish and press-on nails reminiscent of candy shells. The line is called Sweeten Your Mani, but you could use it for a pedi, too, if you want to toe the line.

In today’s edition:

—Erin Cabrey, Jeena Sharma, Alex Vuocolo

STORES

Bearing in mind

Haribo

While international sweets like Swedish skulls and British Squashies have had seemingly overnight success in the US, one 100-year-old candy aisle staple has taken its sweet time establishing stateside growth.

Haribo, the candy giant best known for its Goldbears gummy bears, was founded in Germany in 1920 and debuted in the US in 1982. But its popularity in the US has only grown within the last decade or so, Rick LaBerge, chief commercial officer at Haribo of America, told Retail Brew.

That growth has come not from a flash-in-the-pan viral moment, but efforts like portfolio expansion, a stateside manufacturing facility, the debut of its first US retail stores, and even a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

LaBerge, a CPG veteran who spent over two decades at Johnson & Johnson and Mars before joining Haribo in 2015, said the efforts have ultimately helped Haribo “embed ourselves into the rituals of the American consumer,” pushing its household penetration to 41% and more than tripling US retail sales from $188 million to $600 million since 2016.

Keep reading here.—EC

Sponsored By Anrok

A solution that’s just the right size

When Michael Joyner joined IDA Sports as their first finance hire, US tax compliance wasn’t top of mind. The Australia-founded, UK-run DTC business was heads-down on US growth. Their focus: creating the best soccer cleats for women and girls.

Michael checked Shopify and found orders flowing across the US. But there was no system in place for charging sales tax. IDA had crossed economic nexus thresholds in multiple states—without a cent collected to cover liability. And with a Dallas warehouse and employees in New York, North Carolina, and California, a physical nexus was added on top.

Solutions with enterprise pricing didn’t fit the bill. Michael needed something sized for the business: clean Shopify integration, automated state registration and filing, monitoring, and growth-stage pricing.

Anrok checked every box.

IDA is now compliant in 10 states, still run by a finance team of one.

See how they got here.

MARKETING

Current affairs

Morning Brew Inc., Photo: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

Fashion brands have spent years addressing sustainability and setting ambitious climate goals. The harder part? Getting the thousands of suppliers that actually make their clothes to agree to come along for the ride.

Enter: Levi Strauss & Co. and Marks & Spencer, which are hoping there’s strength (and maybe some savings) in numbers.

The two retailers, alongside Schneider Electric’s SE Advisory Services, launched the Fashion Renewable Collaborative (FRC) during the recent New York Climate Week, an initiative designed to help fashion suppliers transition to renewable electricity. However, instead of having brands approach factories individually with their own sustainability goals, the program brings them together under one shared system that offers suppliers education, technical support, and eventually help procuring renewable power.

Keep reading here.—JS

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RETAIL

Clash of titans

Johner Images/Getty Images

The fall season is kicking off this week with a clash of titans. Walmart, Target, and Amazon are all running sales events in what is arguably the opening salvo of the longer holiday season. Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days and Target Circle Deal Days both take place over 48 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday, while Walmart’s Deal Days starts today and runs through Sunday.

Which retailer will win the fall? Q3 just wrapped, so we won’t have the whole picture until companies report their Q4 results next year.

In the meantime, here’s what else is going on in retail this week:

Keep reading here.—AV

Sponsored By The Ibotta Performance Network

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It’s almost time for one of retail’s biggest gatherings—see what you can expect

swapping skus

Today’s top retail reads.

Small world: Ikea will close three of its small-format stores in the US this fall. (Retail Dive)

Hanna-zon: Hanna Andersson, the children’s clothing and family pajamas brand, debuted on Amazon with 90% of its offerings there unique to Amazon. (Modern Retail)

Kidult in the room: How adults playing with toys are remaking the toy market. (the New Yorker)

Compliance doesn’t need expertise: With Anrok, IDA Sports went from missing Shopify tax thresholds to full compliance across 10 US states. Sales tax work dropped from about two days a month to a few hours—a 75%+ time reduction.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

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Written by Erin Cabrey, Jeena Sharma, and Alex Vuocolo

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