October 20, 2025
- Best Buy is kicking off its holiday sale, cheekily titled “DoorBOOsters,” on Halloween, or Oct. 31. “No one does the holiday shopping season like Best Buy, so we decided to expand the definition of ‘holiday’ and start the fun on Halloween this year,” said Jason Bonfig, chief customer, product and fulfillment officer for Best Buy (via Chain Store Age).
- Gucci owner Kering agreed to sell its beauty business to L’Oreal in a deal valued at approximately $4.6 billion. CEO Luca de Meo indicated that Kering was very interested in tackling the luxury group’s significant debt load while also refocusing its core fashion business (via Reuters).
- Pokemon and sports cards are booming business, boosting Walmart and Target sales significantly YTD. Target reported a 70% YTD increase in this category, projecting over $1 billion in sales as 2025 draws to a close. Walmart Marketplace reported a 200% jump in trading card sales from Feb. 2024 through June 2025, with Pokemon sales up more than tenfold YoY (via CNBC).
- Mammoth Brands is slated to acquire Coterie, the upscale diaper brand. The achievement for Coterie is marked as significant, given that it has been on the market for less than six years and the deal is rumored to be valued at ~$1 billion (via Forbes).
- Comfort Colors, a brand within the larger Gildan business, has seen massive success over the past year. “Comfort Colors is probably the fastest-growing fashion brand,” Glenn Chamandy, Gildan’s co-founder and CEO. “When you walk into a souvenir store today, you’ll see Comfort Colors on every single one of those tables where you used to see fashion brands before” (via CNBC).
- Wayfair is growing its physical footprint, with its Perigold banner opening a second store, this time in West Palm Beach, Florida. “West Palm Beach is a vibrant and fast-growing market, and our customers here are already deeply engaged with Perigold online,” said Rebecca Ginns, global head of Perigold. (via Chain Store Age).