Retail Brew // Morning Brew // Update

February 04, 2026

Hey hey. Bahama Breeze, the Caribbean-themed chain owned by Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants, said this week it’ll shutter its business on April 5, at which time we hope all nearby Margaritaville locations are prepared for the influx of visitors looking for novelty frozen cocktails.

In today’s edition:

—Vidhi Choudhary, Alex Vuocolo, Erin Cabrey

E-COMMERCE

Scaling AI

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Home improvement retailer Lowe’s is in the mindset of how to grow as a business, and that’s where AI’s presumed superpowers that dominated CES can help, at least according to Chandu Nair, SVP for stores, data, artificial intelligence, and innovation at Lowe’s.

Nair, who joined Lowe’s in 2020, runs AI strategy for the company, including overseeing the Lowe’s Innovation Labs introduced in 2014. He, like many CES attendees, was hoping to track emerging technologies the retailer can use in-store or behind the scenes in its supply chain.

“When we look at technologies, we look to see what is the broader problem or the opportunity it is trying to solve,” Nair told Retail Brew at CES. “And then we try to say, ‘Is there a real, relevant retail problem that the technology can apply?’”

Last year, Lowe’s started testing an AI-enabled voice agent—an intelligent virtual agent (IVA)—in all its stores that Nair said has helped free up staff for more face-to-face interaction. Nair spoke to Retail Brew on the sidelines of CES about how the company is thinking about AI and its use cases.

Keep reading here.—VC

From The Crew

Your burning questions about work, answered

Is it okay to ask your coworker how much they make? Is Gen Z set up for failure in the workplace? Should you really bring your whole self to work?

Each week on Per My Last Email, Morning Brew’s resident career experts Kaila and Kyle—whose careers have collectively spanned the corporate, government, nonprofit, and startup sectors—debate the trickiest challenges in work life and share insightful (and sometimes hilarious) tactics on how to overcome them. Listen now.

STORES

Mixed messages

Vostok/Getty Images

The mood among consumers is bleak, but that’s not stopping many Americans from spending money. While the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for January dropped to its lowest level since 2014—respondents cited everything from inflation and oil prices to trade politics and health insurance—a slew of indicators from credit card data to iPhone sales show resilience among shoppers.

Mastercard and American Express both had positive things to say about US consumers.

“We remain positive about the growth outlook and our base case for 2026 continues to reflect healthy consumer spending,” CFO Sachin Mehra told shareholders.

CEO Michael Miebach added that in 2025 the company saw a “truly savvy and intentional consumer” taking advantage of the digital economy to find the best deals and using loyalty programs to determine their spending decisions.

As for the much-feared tariff impact, it’s just showing up in the numbers.

Keep reading here.—AV

COMMUNITY

Coworking with Cristy Aranguiz

Portrait of Cristina Aranguiz. Young woman with dark hair, dark shirt, and stylish hoop earings.

Cristy Aranguiz

On Wednesdays, we ~~wear pink~~ spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Cristy Aranguiz is co-founder and CEO of a multi-state cannabis enterprise, leading Cannabis & Glass, Iowa Cannabis Company, and Minnesota Cannabis Services.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I run companies that have to operate flawlessly every single day. Retail looks simple from the outside, but behind the scenes, its logistics, compliance, customer experience, pricing strategy, supply chain, hiring, and marketing all happening at once. My job is to make something incredibly complex feel seamless to the customer.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? I read every customer review: the good ones and the tough ones. People don’t realize how seriously I take customer feedback. It’s one of the best ways to stay grounded and understand exactly where we’re winning and where we need to improve.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Scaling our Washington retail operations will always be my favorite. It’s where I learned how to run a real business, like how to increase volume, sharpen pricing, improve processes, and build a team that can execute at a high level.

Keep reading here.—EC

Together With The Ibotta Performance Network

Media measurement’s new gold standard. For CPG brands, accurately measuring the ROI of promotions compared to established media campaign measurement is a challenge. Ibotta partnered with ABCS Insights for a study designed to create a standard of independent, transparent third-party validation to measure digital promotions. Here’s what they found.

SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads.

Taking great pains: In his first few days on the job, new Walmart CEO John Furner asked employees in a memo to share issues that make it hard for them to do their jobs. (Bloomberg)

Role call: A look at the top candidates to lead 7-Eleven amid CEO Joseph DePinto’s upcoming retirement. (C-Store Dive)

Whole-hearted: From caviar McNuggets to a heart-shaped Auntie Anne’s pretzel, food chains are locked in on Valentine’s Day this year. (AP News)

The rise of GEO

Two shopping bags next to a smiling AI robot wearing headphones and a web browser displaying shoes

Amelia Kinsinger

As shoppers increasingly turn to AI tools for product recommendations, traditional search is facing new competition. Dive into how generative engine optimization is reshaping discovery, why traffic from AI is surging, and what brands need to do to stay visible as shopping conversations move from search bars to chatbots.

Check it out

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Written by Vidhi Choudhary, Alex Vuocolo, and Erin Cabrey

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