Store openings, seasonal hiring, and refreshed in-store experiences signal a bet on a solid holiday, even as tariff refunds prop up results and the FTC takes a closer look at how retailers use customer data.
As the industry moved into the final quarter, the picture was one of selective confidence. Store openings, expanded seasonal hiring and refreshed in-store experiences pointed to a sector betting on a solid holiday, even as several bellwethers cut corporate roles and leaned on one-time tariff refunds to shore up results. Pricing practices also drew closer scrutiny from Washington, adding a new layer of attention to how retailers use customer data.
The Federal Trade Commission sent orders to Walmart and Target as part of a broader inquiry into whether companies set different prices for different shoppers based on personal data, including data analyzed with artificial intelligence. The orders, which also reached airlines, ride-sharing firms and food delivery services, give recipients 45 days to respond and ask how loyalty programs factor into pricing. Both retailers have said they do not use personal information to raise prices, with Target pointing to an October fact sheet stating that its Target Circle program surfaces deals "not to raise your price." FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said the agency intends to scrutinize the "opaque methodology" some companies may be using.
Meanwhile, Macy's is leaning back into in-store experiences at its Herald Square flagship this holiday season. A reimagined Santaland, billed as an immersive journey to the North Pole, opens for free reservations on Nov. 20 and adds sensory-friendly hours developed with the Child Mind Institute. The store's 50,000-square-foot Holiday Square returns for a third year with more than 35 food and gift vendors. The investment comes as Macy's continues to shrink its fleet and revamp about half of its 408 remaining stores under its "Bold New Chapter" strategy.
In athletic apparel, Adidas posted record preliminary third-quarter revenue of €7.3 billion, up 9% from a year earlier, while operating income rose 37% to €1 billion. Roughly €200 million of that profit came from tariff refunds, and gross margin improved 2.5 percentage points to 54.3% on what the company called healthy full-price sales. Adidas raised its full-year operating profit outlook to about €2.5 billion, and analysts at Telsey Advisory Group pointed to significant market share gains relative to competitors, particularly Nike.
Amazon also signaled confidence in the season, announcing plans to hire more than 300,000 U.S. workers for the holidays. The target is about 20% above the roughly 250,000 seasonal workers the company has brought on each year since 2023, a notable step up at a time when other retailers are reportedly hiring fewer seasonal workers or declining to share their plans. Seasonal employees will earn an average of about $20 per hour, and those working at least 30 hours a week will be eligible for health coverage beginning Jan. 1.
Elsewhere, off-pricer Ross Stores opened 51 new locations across 17 states in September and October, including 41 Ross Dress for Less stores and 10 dd's DISCOUNTS. The openings complete a fiscal 2026 growth plan of 115 stores, up from the 110 initially planned, and include the banner's first stores in Massachusetts. Ross now operates 2,377 locations and sees room for 2,900 Ross Dress for Less and 700 dd's DISCOUNTS stores over time.
Levi Strauss & Co. leaned on wholesale strength and tariff refunds to offset a softer quarter. Net revenue rose 4% to $1.6 billion, helped by 6% wholesale growth, while direct-to-consumer revenue rose just 2% with flat comparable sales. Tariff refunds of about $80 million contributed 370 basis points to a 450-basis-point gross margin expansion, though net income still fell nearly 23%. Executives cited weaker back-to-school demand, an overemphasis on loose fits as shoppers moved toward low-rise styles, and an unusually hot European summer.
Even as it ramps up seasonal hiring, Amazon is restructuring parts of its Stores business, which spans Amazon.com, Whole Foods and other retail operations. The company said it is eliminating "a small number of roles," a change Retail Dive reported affects hundreds of employees, following the roughly 14,000 corporate cuts announced a year earlier.
Walmart, for its part, continued to press ahead with warehouse automation despite costly growing pains. The Wall Street Journal reported frequent robot breakdowns, difficulty handling oversized products, and electricity bills at some automated grocery facilities reaching $800,000 a month during peak periods. Supply chain chief Rob Montgomery acknowledged the company is reaching "peak complexity" as it retrofits most of its roughly 200 U.S. supply chain buildings, with spending expected to peak this year and next.
Finally, Nike said it will reduce its workforce in the new year as part of its latest restructuring, which consolidates its geographic regions into three. Revenue fell 4% to $11.2 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, driven largely by a 22% drop in Greater China and a 28% decline at Converse, and the company guided for a high-single-digit revenue decline for the year. With no new turnaround timeline offered, one Needham analyst described visibility as "very low."