All posts tagged: retail

Wave Cash App’s Magic Wand to Pay for Stuff

Wave Cash App’s Magic Wand to Pay for Stuff

Have you ever wanted to wave a magic wand at something and make it yours? Well, now you can, so long as you have enough money in your debit account to pay for it. Cash App, the digital payments service operated by Block, has offered its users the ability to use free physical cards since 2017. Now, anyone with a Cash App card can pay $25 to turn that card into a pearlescent, sparkly magic wand. Anywhere you can use tap-to-pay with your phone or card, you’ll be able to buy something with a tap of the wand instead. The wand is a whimsical way to introduce Cash App Tags, the company’s new hardware product. Tags are NFC-enabled physical devices that will eventually come in an array of shapes and sizes. They don’t have to connect via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. To link one to a Cash App account, you can just hold the device to the back of a phone, and it will link the wand to the account. (You’ll need to register a Cash …

Apple’s First Retail Stores Opened 25 Years Ago Today

Apple’s First Retail Stores Opened 25 Years Ago Today

Apple’s retail operation turns 25 years old today, marking a quarter century since the company opened its first stores on May 19, 2001. Steve Jobs personally guided members of the press through the Tysons Corner store four days before it opened, after Apple announced the retail initiative on May 15. Some 500 visitors lined up before dawn on opening day, with the queue growing to over 1,000 by the time the doors opened at 10 a.m. The two stores, located at Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia and Glendale Galleria in California, welcomed over 7,700 visitors and recorded $599,000 in combined sales across their opening weekend. The decision to enter brick-and-mortar retail came at a precarious moment for Apple. With a market share hovering around 2.8%, the company was struggling to showcase its products through third-party retailers, where Macs were routinely relegated to dusty corners staffed by clerks with limited product knowledge. Jobs believed Apple would never shed its “cult” image unless it controlled the entire customer experience right down to the point of purchase. …

EU looks to cow manure to keep food prices down

EU looks to cow manure to keep food prices down

Brussels’ answer to a looming fertilizer crisis is to make more use of cow dung. Grocery price spikes are on the horizon amid the unending war in Iran and the rising cost of fertilizer. Yet the European Commission’s plan to shore up Europe’s supply, due out Tuesday, centers around a long-term regulatory push to recycle more manure and farm waste into fertilizer.  It’s not the quick fix some were hoping for. Farmers “expected bold action,” said MEP Veronika Vrecionová, who helms the European Parliament’s agriculture committee. “Roadmaps don’t pay the bills. Farmers need action, not intentions.” Farm lobbies are pushing the same line. “European farmers cannot wait for another long-term roadmap while production costs continue to rise and European fertilizer capacity keeps disappearing,” said José María Castilla of ASAJA, Spain’s largest farmers’ organization. “The current crisis is not only about prices, it is about strategic autonomy, food security and the survival of European agriculture.” Europe makes most of its own fertilizer from imported gas. When the Strait of Hormuz closed at the end of February, gas prices …

The Catastrophic Swatch x Audemars Piguet Launch Was Entirely Predictable and Utterly Avoidable

The Catastrophic Swatch x Audemars Piguet Launch Was Entirely Predictable and Utterly Avoidable

The note from the communications team then, quite remarkably, lists some stats in an attempt to paint the launch in a positive light, as opposed the retail bin-fire it seemingly was: “We have received millions of clicks on our website. This new collaboration is literally making social media explode, with over 6 billion views within one week; by now, it is already 11 billion. All in all, the Royal Pop Collection is captivating the entire world, not least because the Royal Pop is, quite surprisingly, not a wristwatch.” Audemars Piguet seems unhappy with how Swatch has handled the launch of its collaboration on the Royal Pop. AP told WIRED that “we understand the questions around the Royal Pop launch experience. As retail operations are handled by Swatch and their local teams, Swatch is best placed to comment on the operational handling of the launch. From AP’s perspective, safety and a positive experience for clients and teams remain the priority.” The brand did not respond when asked if it considered Swatch’s handling of the Royal Pop launch a …

Riding an AI rally, Robinhood preps second retail venture IPO

Riding an AI rally, Robinhood preps second retail venture IPO

Just two months after listing its first venture fund on the stock market, Robinhood is preparing to launch a second. The company has filed a confidential registration for RVII, a standard regulatory step that allows it to work through the approval process before making details public. Unlike its first fund, which currently holds stakes in 10 late-stage companies — Airwallex, Boom, Databricks, ElevenLabs, Mercor, OpenAI, Oura, Ramp, Revolut, and Stripe — RVII will cast a wider net, investing in growth-stage and early-stage startups. It’s a meaningful distinction, given that early-stage startups are younger and carry more risk but also offer the potential for greater returns. The fundraising target for RVII has not yet been set, the company said in a blog post. For its inaugural fund, Robinhood sought to raise $1 billion but ultimately fell several hundred million short of that goal. Despite the shortfall, the first fund has performed strongly. RVI — the ticker for Robinhood’s first fund, which trades on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) — debuting on the NYSE at $21 a share …

Key Events This Week: CPI, PPI, Retail Sales, Trump-Xi Summit

Key Events This Week: CPI, PPI, Retail Sales, Trump-Xi Summit

As DB’s Jim Reid tallies overnight, it has now been 73 days since the war in Iran began, with the past 32 marked by a stalemate characterized by a mix of truce and ongoing ceasefire. The absence of any meaningful kinetic activity for over a month suggests a firm US preference for reaching a deal. However, a counterpoint is that uncertainty over who holds negotiating authority in Iran may be complicating progress and delaying more difficult times ahead. It remains an unusual conflict with little action now for a month. In simple terms though, as long as the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, markets remain on a knife edge. Polymarket currently assigns a 39% probability to it fully reopening by 30 June. The latest is that oil and yields are up again this morning as President Trump has posted that “I have just read the response from Iran’s so called ‘Representatives’” which he went on to call “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE”. This was based on a WSJ report that suggested Iran was offering to transfer some of …

Co-op to take over 200 more UK supermarkets – rescue deal | UK | News

Co-op to take over 200 more UK supermarkets – rescue deal | UK | News

Co-op is set to take over hundreds more supermarkets across the UK as part of a rescue deal aimed at saving a struggling regional retailer from potential collapse. Members of Southern Co-op have voted overwhelmingly in favour of merging with the national Co-op Group, paving the way for almost 200 convenience stores to change hands in one of the biggest shake-ups for the sector in recent years. The proposal received backing from 97.07% of members during a Special General Meeting held on Tuesday, with 13,361 votes cast in total. A spokesperson for Southern Co-op confirmed the result, saying members had voted in favour of transferring the society’s engagements to a subsidiary of the Co-op Group. If the deal is approved in a second vote later this month, more than 300 businesses currently operated by Southern Co-op — including food stores, funeral homes and coffee shops, would become part of the national chain. The combined business would generate around £11.5billion in annual sales and operate close to 2,500 stores nationwide. Southern Co-op’s chief executive Ben Stimson …

Iconic UK toy shop to open 2 new stores – locations named | UK | News

Iconic UK toy shop to open 2 new stores – locations named | UK | News

An iconic UK toy shop is set to open two new stores, boosting its presence across locations. The famous toy store was created in 1760 and is now a London landmark with tourists flocking to visit the world’s oldest toy store. Hamleys will open in two new London locations, with pop-up stores in Liverpool Street Station and Heathrow Terminal 2. While the new train station shop is set to open soon, in early May, the Heathrow Airport branch will open in mid-June. The company currently has stores in other major travel locations including train stations, London Bridge and St Pancras, as well as airports, Stansted and Heathrow Terminal 4. The Liverpool Street Hamleys will span over 500 square feet and feature Hamleys favourites like plush animals, mini vehicles and pocket money toys as well as travel-friendly products like sticker books and miniature-sized board games. The Heathrow store will be larger, at 1000 square feet, featuring the classic Hamleys products as well as tech toys, action figures and Lego sets. Hamleys is well-known for its Regent …

GameStop targets eBay with unsolicited bn acquisition offer | Financial Markets News

GameStop targets eBay with unsolicited $56bn acquisition offer | Financial Markets News

Published On 4 May 20264 May 2026 GameStop made an unsolicited $56bn bid to acquire e-commerce giant eBay—a company with a market value nearly four times higher—as the video game retailer seeks to boost profitability. eBay confirmed the offer on Monday and said that there had been no prior discussion or outreach with GameStop before receiving the offer. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list GameStop, which is worth roughly $12bn, is attempting to buy the online bidding giant in a deal that would consist of half cash and half stock buyout, with just around $9bn in cash and a debt load of $4.2bn. GameStop disclosed over the weekend that it has already built a 5 percent stake in eBay and touted $20bn in potential debt financing from TD Securities to convince shareholders of the deal. CEO Ryan Cohen argued he could replicate his cost-cutting playbook at GameStop to boost eBay’s profitability, while tapping GameStop’s approximately 1,600 US stores into a physical network to make eBay a better competitor to Amazon. “We have the …

The Most Coveted Watches of 2026, According to a Retail Expert

The Most Coveted Watches of 2026, According to a Retail Expert

Patek Philippe, meanwhile, has its own obvious winner in the form of the special-edition 50th anniversary Nautilus, which features the number “50” etched on its movement. A version of the brand’s World Timer, in yellow gold with a cherry-red lacquer dial, is a close runner-up. Tudor’s latest extremely wearable releases are also hot-ticket items. According to Hurley, the brand-new Monarch model and the ice-blue Royal will both find homes quickly. “Tudor had the strongest lineup of any brand,” Hurley says. Perhaps Hurley’s most surprising answer was the re-released Cartier Roadster. The watch wasn’t received all that well by the press, but its return was apparently prompted by serious demand from American clients. Clients are making purchases as soon as the show starts: As far as the major watchmakers are concerned, Watches of Switzerland places the vast majority of its orders for the year before Watches and Wonders even begins, Hurley says, “based on the performance of the brands.” Where the show is most helpful for retailers is in discovering new or independent brands they might …