August 25, 2026

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It’s Tuesday, and retailers and consumers are processing the collapse of a US-Canada trade deal that could place 50% tariffs on a wide array of products. The list is dizzyingly eclectic, ranging from horsehair and tortoise shells to ice skates and vermouth. There goes our holiday shopping list.

In today’s edition:

—Vidhi Choudhary, Jordyn Grzelewski, Jamila Huxtable

E-COMMERCE

Test drive

Kevin Carter/Getty Images

When the internet was new and Wi-Fi was not common in retail stores, Apple turned its brick-and-mortar locations into car showroom-like experiences designed to let people try technology products before buying them.

Ron Johnson, Apple’s former head of retail and creator of its in-house tech support team known as the Genius Bar, helped drum up interest in Apple’s stores in a big way in the early 2000s. Johnson built the blueprint for the tech giant’s physical stores, and 25 years later, with nearly 270 stores in the US and more than 500 globally, Apple stores are widely emulated for their customer experience.

Johnson’s book, Shop Different: How Retail Revealed Apple’s Genius, is out on September 22, and details the lessons he learned while creating Apple Stores. He spoke with Retail Brew about AI and physical stores today.

Keep reading here.—VC

Sponsored By Paradox, a Workday Company

Inaction? That’ll cost ya

Let’s put a number to it: According to Paradox, the cost of inaction translates to 43% of understaffed restaurant operators being forced to postpone expansion or modify menus simply because they couldn’t fully staff their business.

In the latest episode of the Frontline podcast—brought to you by Paradox, a Workday company—Captain D’s VP of HR reveals how the 500-location brand stopped treating staffing as a daily scheduling headache and started treating it as a measurable business system.

By removing friction and connecting prehire information with performance data, Captain D’s has seen turnover decline every year since 2022, including a drop of nearly 20 points this year alone.

Paradox helps organizations eliminate that very friction where candidates disappear, proving that the goal of automation isn’t to replace humans but to remove the admin so managers can focus on empathy, trust, and judgment.

Listen in.

STORES

Tired and true

Goodyear

Goodyear’s ties to Detroit date back to the early 1900s, when Henry Ford called on the company to outfit cars he wanted to test for racing.

Now, the Akron, Ohio-based tire manufacturer is paying homage to that history with the opening of its first retail concept store in Detroit.

“As we thought about where’s the place to do it, it’s the center of car culture,” Goodyear CEO and president Mark Stewart said on the Autotown podcast ahead of the Aug. 15 launch of the Goodyear Motor City Garage.

Keep reading here.—JG

Sponsored By Yelp

Take the spree to ChatGPT. More people than ever are skipping the search bar and asking AI for things like “sneaker stores near me.” The good news is that Yelp could be your shortcut to showing up in those results. And Yelp products like Enhanced Profiles can help supercharge this new online storefront.

MARKETING

Deathly serious

A portrait of Mike Cessario, the founder and CEO of Liquid Death, sitting in an orange armchair holding his product

Sean Schedit/Washington Post

Consumers have plenty of options for bottled water, but Liquid Death founder Mike Cessario saw an opportunity to make plain water exciting.

Before founding Liquid Death in 2017, Cessario worked in advertising, where he learned how brands could break through the noise. He spent his early days playing guitar in punk and metal bands, where he noticed that most products marketed to the crowds were energy drinks, sodas, and other junk food, according to publicist Jake Tredo.

These insights became Liquid Death, a canned beverage company known for its aggressive branding, irreverent humor, and heavy metal-inspired aesthetic that, according to the company, was valued at $1.4 billion in 2024.

Initially the company’s biggest challenge was creating demand for a product that, while essential to human survival, is difficult to differentiate from brand to brand.

Keep reading here on Founder Brew.—JH

Sponsored By Mirakl

Take the pressure off of paid acquisition. Your paid channels are maxed out—and the price keeps climbing with no end in sight. It’s time to expand your revenue streams and your customer base. Tune in to our virtual event with Mirakl to explore how marketplaces can help you cast a wider net.

swapping skus

Today’s top retail reads.

Bad look: Target has apologized for selling a children’s Halloween costume some shoppers have accused of depicting a racist caricature. (Reuters)

Too personal: The FTC is seeking public comment on a proposal to warn companies that failure to disclose the use of “personal pricing” would be in violation of an agency rule. (Fortune)

Wrong foot: Dick’s Sporting Goods has lowered its sales outlook for the year in response to shrinking demand for athletic footwear and apparel. (the Wall Street Journal)

Uh, where’s the staff? In this episode of the Frontline podcast—brought to you by Paradox, a Workday company—Captain D’s VP of HR reveals how the 500-location brand started treating staffing as a measurable business system. This was the difference.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

Jobs

Tired of one-size-fits-all job boards? CollabWORK highlights roles that reflect your interests and goals—delivered through communities like Retail Brew. Click here to explore the full job board.

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Written by Vidhi Choudhary, Jordyn Grzelewski, and Jamila Huxtable

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