Rodney McMullen had served as the grocery chain's CEO since 2014

• Kroger has abruptly replaced its CEO with an interim leader, the grocery chain said on Monday.
• Rodney McMullen resigned, and Ronald Sargent is taking over his role.
• The chain said it learned about conduct "inconsistent with Kroger's Policy on Business Ethics."

The grocery chain Kroger is replacing its longtime CEO after an investigation into his personal conduct, it said Monday.

Kroger said that it learned about conduct by Rodney McMullen that was "inconsistent with Kroger's Policy on Business Ethics."

"On February 21, the Board was made aware of certain personal conduct by Mr. McMullen and immediately retained outside independent counsel to conduct an investigation, which was overseen by a special Board committee," Kroger said.

No Kroger associates were involved in McMullen's conduct, Kroger said. It added that the behavior wasn't related to the company's financial performance.

McMullen has resigned from the CEO role, Kroger said. He was appointed Kroger's leader in 2014 and became chair of the company's board of directors the following year.

The company has appointed Ronald Sargent, a member of its board of directors who's a former CEO of Staples, as interim CEO and board chair while it searches for a permanent replacement. Mark Sutton will take over as the company's lead independent director.

Kroger is the largest supermarket chain in the US by sales. The company operates grocery stores under multiple names, including Harris Teeter and Fry's.

The company is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday. It said it expects full-year identical sales excluding fuel to be at the high end of its guidance range and adjusted EPS to be "slightly above" the high end of its guidance.

McMullen started his first job at Kroger in 1978, when he worked part-time as a stocking clerk at a store in Lexington, Kentucky, according to Kroger.

He earned accounting degrees at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, where he has been honored as a distinguished alumnus. He was the first in his family to go to college, according to a 2014 profile by The Cincinnati Enquirer.

McMullen built his career at Kroger and held several different roles at the grocer, including as CFO from 1995 to 2000.

"He was a key player on every major decision after 1987 when he was just a kid," Bill Sinkula, Kroger's former CFO, told the Enquirer in the 2014 profile.

As CEO, he oversaw Kroger's growing online and delivery business and a rebrand of Kroger in 2019.

McMullen was also CEO when the nearly $25 billion proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons fell apart after two years of attempts to win approval from regulators.

On a Reddit page for Kroger employees, many posts expressed surprise at McMullen's sudden departure and curiosity about what exactly led to his resignation.

"We NEED TO KNOW," one poster wrote.

A couple of posts pointed to Kroger's decision not to award McMullen a 2024 bonus or give him any unvested equity on his way out. Kroger confirmed those decisions in a filing Monday with the SEC. McMullen's total compensation as CEO was $15.7 million in 2023.

"Whatever it is, it definitely pissed the board off," one commenter wrote.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• The US has endured multiple periods of inflation throughout history.
• The Great Inflation lasted from 1965 to 1982.
• In 1975, a half gallon of milk cost $0.785, or $4.79 when adjusted for inflation; today, a gallon costs $4.03.

If it feels like you can't go anywhere without hearing about the rising price of eggs, it's for good reason.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that egg prices rose by 15.2% from December 2024 to January 2025, leaving the average price of a dozen Grade A large eggs at a record $4.95.

Now, amid ongoing egg shortages caused by the bird flu, stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Costco are limiting how many eggs customers can purchase at a time.

But what was it like 50 years ago?

Turns out, in 1975, the American public was facing its own inflation crisis, aptly called the Great Inflation.

This period of economic difficulty was caused and sustained by factors including Federal Reserve policies, a breakdown of the Bretton Woods system (which anchored the US dollar to gold), the Vietnam War, and the oil crises.

Food inflation peaked at more than 20% at the end of 1973, and overall food prices rose by 7.1% between 1968 and 1983, the BLS reported.

We looked at how today's average grocery prices compare to those 50 years ago using the latest data available from the USDA, US Department of Energy, and BLS, including its consumer price index (CPI) inflation calculator.

From eggs and milk to apples and bananas, here's how food prices today compare to those 50 years ago.

• The first Walmart store opened in 1962 and it was the No. 1 retailer in the US by 1990.
• Photos show customers shopping at Walmart during the chain's boom in the '90s.
• Walmart also expanded into China, Canada, and the UK in the 1990s.

Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. By 1980, the retail chain operated 276 locations and achieved $1 billion in sales each year. By 1990, Walmart became the No. 1 retailer in the US.

The big-box brand has continued to dominate, marking its 60th anniversary in 2022 and earning $648 billion in revenue in the fiscal year 2024, according to its latest earnings report.

Photos from Walmart's booming business in the 1990s show the retail chain's rapid growth.

A representative for Walmart did not respond to a request for comment.

• Apple is complaining about a porn app that's now available for European iPhone users.
• But the complaint isn't really about porn — it's about European rules meant to unlock its control of its app store.
• That's one of many EU regulations Big Tech hopes Trump will fight — possibly with tariffs.

How do Apple, porn, and Donald Trump end up in the same story?

Glad you asked. It's a tiny bit complicated, but I'm here to serve.

Big picture: Apple is complaining about a porn app that's now available on iPhones, against its wishes, because of European regulations it hates.

Those regulations are among the many complaints Big Tech companies have about the way Europe treats them. And they're hoping that Trump, their newfound ally, will fight back against them — maybe using the same tariff/threat strategy he has been employing against Canada, Mexico, and China.

The details: Apple is grousing about Hot Tub, a new app available to iPhone users in the European Union. You can't get it from Apple's own app store, but it's available from AltStore, an alternative app store that lets users "sideload" apps to their phones. AltStore works because of new EU regulations — bitterly opposed by Apple — that allow for third-party app stores.

On the porn part: I haven't used Hot Tub myself, but from what I understand, it lets you … look at porn. Just like anyone with an iPhone can already do using Apple's Safari browser.

But Apple thinks there's a big distinction since Apple (like Google) has long banned porn apps from the app store it runs. And it's particularly upset that Hot Tub and AltStore have suggested that the new app is "Apple-approved." (The distinction: Though Apple hates the new third-party app stores it has to work with, it still gets to conduct basic supervision of the apps that show up in app stores like AltStore. In Apple's eyes, signing off on an app for someone else's app store is very different from approving it for its own app store.)

All of this comes as a result of a drawn-out fight involving Apple and a handful of developers, including Epic Games, that have complained about Apple's app store rules and EU regulators. I've written about this — and the importance of the App Store to Apple's overall business — a bunch. I'd also suggest reading Shira Ovide's excellent plain-English explainer in The Washington Post.

What Big Tech wants from Donald Trump

And the reason Trump comes into play is that rules about the way Apple works with app developers are one of many things Big Tech companies hate about European regulations. (US lawmakers, meanwhile, spent years promising to regulate Big Tech themselves but have largely left it alone: Almost all attempts at Big Tech regulation have instead come from lawsuits filed or threatened by Trump's and Joe Biden's administrations.) They've been making it clear to Trump that they'd like him to do something about it. It's certainly not a coincidence that Mark Zuckerberg, who made a dramatic and vocal pivot into Trumpdom last month, now calls European tech rules "almost like a tariff."

Message received. Last month, Trump used a Davos speech to complain about European fines and regulations aimed at Big Tech. This week, in the middle of tariff threats/negotiations with Mexico and Canada, he suggested that he'd be turning his attention to Europe shortly.

That doesn't necessarily mean American tech companies will get what they want. Trump will have a long list of concessions he'll want out of Europe, and it's entirely unclear what he'll prioritize and what, if anything, he'll get.

But you should still connect the dots between porn apps and potential EU tariffs — because Big Tech companies certainly are.

• Instacart is testing a new kind of gig work at some stores.
• Contractors can now earn money by photographing products on shelves to show what's in stock.
• The brands behind the products use the photos to review what's there and how displays look.

Instacart is offering its independent contractors a new type of work: Checking shelves on behalf of the companies that supply stores.

Instacart has been testing the program, which it calls "brand tasks," at some stores since last fall, according to messages seen by shoppers via email and the Instacart app, shared with Business Insider.

"You'll get paid to take photos of what's in stock or refill displays," a message sent to a shopper about a beta version of the program in November said, which was seen by Business Insider.

Instacart built its business using hundreds of thousands of gig workers to shop and deliver groceries, sporting goods, and other items to consumers. The "brand tasks" experiment is one way it's trying to expand into other areas of grocery and retail technology, along with smart shopping carts and advertising.

One shopper in Pennsylvania, who didn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation from Instacart, told BI that they completed one of the tasks, which involved taking a photo of a display of Dove body care products, which Unilever makes. Unilever did not respond to a request for comment. BI verified the shopper's identity and employment by Instacart.

The gig paid about $12 and took about 10 minutes to complete, according to the shopper. That's more than Instacart pays to shop and deliver some orders, which can easily take an hour, the shopper added.

Instacart confirmed that it is testing the program.

"Shoppers can opt-in to receive access to these tasks and will be able to accept the tasks just as they would a standard batch" of orders, an Instacart spokesperson told BI. The spokesperson declined to confirm where in the US Instacart is testing the new offering or which retailers and brands are involved.

Taking photos of how a shelf looks gives the companies that make food, personal care items, and other items information on what's selling and how their products appear to customers. "Brands often work with third parties on a periodic basis to gain insights into their in-stock inventory," the spokesperson said.

Instacart is "primarily focused on display check," the spokesperson said. "We have evaluated other tasks and could consider adding additional tasks in the future."

Gig work has been expanding far beyond delivering restaurant orders and driving people to the airport. Multiple apps now allow nurses to pick up single shifts at hospitals and other medical facilities, for instance.

Do you work for Instacart and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected]

Apple’s iPhone sales may be down, but the company’s Services division, which includes the App Store, iCloud, Music, TV+, and other subscriptions, is still soaring. The Cupertino-based tech giant reported Thursday its Services business had an all-time revenue high of $26.3 billion for the quarter ended December 28, up 14% year-over-year. Services generated nearly $100 […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

• Starbucks is holding three-hour training sessions to implement the CEO's 'back to Starbucks' strategy.
• The training focuses on customer service, new workflows, and reversing the chain's open-door policy.
• Employees are also being taught how to de-escalate conflict with customers.

Starbucks is teaching staff how to de-escalate conflicts involving customers breaking its new in-store policies.

As part of new CEO Brian Niccol's vision to make its stores places where people want to hang out again, Starbucks is giving three-hour training sessions for store employees in the US.

In a segment of documents from the barista training, seen by BI and verified by Starbucks, employees are told to "leverage de-escalation tactics" if regular customers refuse to comply with the company's recent reversal of its open-door policy. It previously let non-paying guests use store facilities, like bathrooms, indoor communal areas, and patios.

The Seattle-headquartered coffee chain said earlier this month that from January 27, these spaces will only be reserved for staff, customers, and people accompanying those making purchases.

According to the documents, as part of the training, baristas are given a scenario where a regular customer who frequently visits the store sits in it for a "prolonged" period of time without buying anything.

It continues to say that when the staff member tells the guest the seating space is only intended for customers who purchase something, they share that they don't think they need to make a purchase to stay in the store.

The training advises that if the regular customer refuses to comply, employees should "listen to the customer's concern and kindly reiterate the intended use of our space."

Staff should then "leverage de-escalation tactics to prioritize empathy and understanding."

"Ask the shift supervisor or store manager for help if the conversation continues," it says.

One partner at a store in Florida who has taken the training said it had clear guidance on how to handle difficult customers. "If there's a situation that's escalating, move it aside, get your manager," the partner said. The message was clear: "Don't take it on your own."

One of the documents also sets out what baristas should do if a regular customer who does not make a purchase asks for their water bottle to be refilled.

"Politely share that water is available to customers who make a purchase," the document states.

"Note that we have bottled water for purchase," it says. "Kindly share you'd be happy to provide water if they make a purchase."

The partner BI spoke to said that in some circumstances, the easiest way to avoid conflict would be to give patrons water. "Some of these people, it could set them off," the partner said.

A Starbucks spokesperson told BI that, like other orders, water should be asked for when making a purchase to avoid interrupting baristas as they're preparing drinks. They said this has been an issue raised by employees.

They added that stores that want to provide easy access to water or experience high volumes of requests have the option of setting up self-service stations.

Starbucks' new training meetings are being rolled out across the company this week. They are intended to help implement Niccol's "back to Starbucks" strategy, which corporate communications director Jaci Anderson told Business Insider means making "tangible changes" in stores "to create a welcoming environment and win back customers."

Store managers will receive 40 hours of training to learn the new standards of service and how to train staff to bring the new vision to life. Store employees, who Starbucks calls "partners," will participate in three-hour sessions to discuss customer expectations, new workflows, and service standards.

• On Sunday, TikTok and some US tech companies ignored a TikTok-ban law at the urging of Donald Trump.
• Trump wasn't president at the time. Once he became president, he signed an order to put the ban on hold.
• Does Trump have that power? It's unclear. That's a problem for tech companies.

Here's a 2025 conundrum for Big Tech companies: Do they follow the president's orders? Or do they follow the law?

That's what the likes of Apple, Google, and Oracle are grappling with following a chaotic weekend that saw TikTok voluntarily shut itself down in the US, then restart less than a day later, claiming that "President Trump" said it was OK to do so.

A couple of problems with that argument: Donald Trump wasn't president of the United States this weekend — Joe Biden was still in the White House. And yes: Trump immediately signed an executive order after he once again became president on Monday telling TikTok and other tech companies to ignore a law that says TikTok can't operate in the US while it's owned by a Chinese company. But it's far from clear how much weight Trump's order holds.

So in the very near term, attorneys and executives at tech companies need to decide whether they're willing to take Trump's word, or if they need additional assurances.

At the moment, it looks like Oracle, controlled by Larry Ellison, a Trump backer, is going with Trump's assurances and is providing cloud services that are keeping TikTok running in the US. Apple and Google, which used to distribute TikTok via their app stores, don't seem convinced: TikTok disappeared from their stores on Sunday and has yet to return. That means US users can have all the TikTok they want, but it prevents TikTok from updating the app for maintenance and repairs — something that could eventually cause problems. (I've asked Oracle for comment. Google declined to comment, and Apple didn't respond to requests for comment.)

One possible out for Google and Apple: Trump has ordered his attorney general, who seems likely to be Pam Bondi, to send letters to Apple, Google, and other providers giving them the all clear to ignore the law. But Bondi isn't attorney general yet, and even when Apple et al. get that letter, it's not clear whether it will be enough to satisfy them.

I'm not going to get into the weeds about the nature of executive orders vs. laws — or whether Trump's claim that he can at least temporarily override a law because of national security concerns would hold up in court. Suffice it to say that there isn't any clarity about any of this: Even Trump allies like Sen. Tom Cotton and House Speaker Mike Johnson have put out statements that seem to conflict with Trump's statements.

The point is that no one can say, with a straight face, that they have 100% confidence about whether the law, passed overwhelmingly by Congress last year and upheld by a unanimous Supreme Court decision last week, is binding. That's an astonishing place for us to be.

It's also not one that we can pin completely on Trump. In his last days in office, Biden also said he wouldn't enforce the law he signed last year — though he did it via anonymous officials speaking with reporters, and eventually his press secretary, and not via an official order. At the same time, some Democrats who voted for the bill in the spring, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, spent the past few days arguing that the ban in the sell-or-ban law they approved should be delayed.

But Trump is taking the uncertainty and supercharging it: In social media statements and a press conference he held Monday, he seemed to suggest that the US government itself might end up owning TikTok. Or that maybe it would be American companies that own half the operation. He also argued that TikTok's Chinese ownership really doesn't matter, since the US already uses lots of other stuff made in China, like "telephones." And that even if China is snooping on US users, that probably also doesn't matter because TikTok is mostly used by kids, and, "If China's going to get information about young kids … I dunno. To be honest, I think we have bigger problems than them."

It's worth watching all three minutes of this White House press conference clip, just to get a sense of how off-the-cuff Trump seems to be treating the whole thing. Imagine running a trillion-dollar company and being forced to decipher this:

We have been here before, of course. America and the rest of the world spent much of the first Trump administration trying to figure out whether Trump really meant what he was saying, or if he could actually act on what he was saying, and whether he'd change his mind a little while later.

One big difference this time around: Tech executives, along with many other US leaders, are scrambling to tell Trump how supportive they are of his presidency this time. But it's one thing to praise Trump, or cut him a check, or to be conspicuously on camera during his inauguration. Trusting that his say-so is good enough to get you out of trouble for violating a law — if that's what actually happens — is brand-new ground.

• Starbucks is in the middle of a turnaround effort.
• The coffee chain is making changes aimed at improving sales.
• Here are the biggest shifts, from more free refills to the end of Starbucks' open-door policy.

Starbucks began 2025 with some big changes.

The coffee chain has announced a number of shifts, including many at its cafés, since CEO Brian Niccol took the helm in September.

It's trying to win back customers after recent earnings reports showed Starbucks' sales slipping, both in the US and globally.

The turnaround attempt arrived at Starbucks' headquarters in Seattle this week as Starbucks laid off 1,100 corporate employees, a move that Niccol said would create "smaller, more nimble teams."

Changes had already arrived at Starbucks stores, and more are on the way. Here are the biggest ones that Starbucks has discussed over the last few months:

Starbucks is trimming 30% of its menu items

Starbucks plans to cut almost a third of its menu items by the end of its fiscal year in September, Niccol said last month.

Among the early cuts are 13 beverages, including several kinds of frappuccinos. Many of the drinks are complicated for Starbucks baristas to make and were not selling well.

Starbucks might ask customers to schedule pick-up times

Starbucks currently gives customers an estimated wait time when they open the chain's app and place an order for pick-up.

But that could change. Starbucks customers often get to the store well after baristas have prepared their drink, CEO Niccol told the Wall Street Journal this month.

Instead, Niccol said that Starbucks is looking at giving customers some say in when they pick up their order — a move that could make its mobile operations more efficient.

Baristas are writing personalized messages on cups

Starbucks now directs store employees to write hand-written notes on disposable to-go cups for customers. Those can include simple messages, such as "You're amazing," as well as smiley faces and other art, according to a memo Starbucks sent store employees in January.

The change is meant to make Starbucks "a welcoming coffeehouse," a company spokesperson said last month. Niccol has said he wants Starbucks employees to connect more with customers.

Starbucks is using more ceramic cups to fill orders

Starbucks started using ceramic mugs as the default for serving beverages that customers order "for here" in January. The chain also offers reusable plates and silverware for food orders that customers eat in-store.

Niccol said last month that the "for-here ware" is meant to make Starbucks stores more attractive places to hang out.

The mugs, plates, and cutlery tell customers that "this is a spot where I can slow down, take a minute, whether I'm connecting with others or just taking a minute for myself," Niccol said on the company's earnings call in January.

Starbucks requires a purchase to hang out there

Starbucks visitors now have to order something or be with someone who does in order to hang out at one of the chain's stores. The new policy took effect on January 27.

The coffee chain confirmed the change on January 13. It replaced the previous open-door policy, which Starbucks implemented after two Black men were arrested in 2018 after one asked to use the bathroom at a Philadelphia store without buying anything.

The new policy, part of the "Coffeehouse Code of Conduct," is meant to "prioritize our paying customers who want to sit and enjoy our cafés or need to use the restroom during their visit," a Starbucks spokesperson told Business Insider.

Starbucks is offering free refills to more patrons

Last month, Starbucks started allowing all customers, not just members of the chain's rewards program, to get free refills on many brewed coffees and teas.

Customers can get the refills by using a clean reusable cup of their own or an in-house ceramic one provided by the chain. They also have to order their drinks in-store, and refills are only available on a beverage during a single visit.

Starbucks' self-serve condiment bars are returning

Starbucks said last year that it would bring back self-service condiment bars in early 2025.

The change means customers will have to add their own milk, sugar, and other condiments to their drinks instead of relying on baristas to do it behind the counter. It will cut the time it takes baristas to serve hot cups of coffee, Niccol said on an earnings call in October.

Rewards members are getting fewer promotions through the app

The days of plentiful buy-one-get-one-free Frappuccino deals appear to be over.

Starbucks has been cutting back the number of promotions that it has offered rewards members through its app, the Wall Street Journal reported in October. It's part of a push to make the coffee chain feel more upscale, the Journal reported at the time.

The change was welcomed by some baristas, who previously said that they were overwhelmed when customers used the Starbucks mobile app to order multiple drinks at once, including through deals such as four beverages for $20.

Do you work at Starbucks and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

The Kroger-exclusive lineup is inspired by the five love languages: physical touch, words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time and receiving gifts

• Starbucks will host its first manager conference since the COVID-19 pandemic this year.
• The last conference was hosted in Chicago in 2019 and had over 12,000 attendees.
• New CEO Brian Niccol wants to stamp his mark and enhance in-person experiences at the chain.

Starbucks is bringing back a major conference for its store managers and senior staff for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic as it refocuses on in-person experiences.

Starbucks confirmed to Business Insider that thousands of store managers and other senior staff will be invited to the gathering this year. It will include training, development, and networking opportunities, the company said.

"As we get back to Starbucks, we must refocus on what has always set us apart — a welcoming coffeehouse where people gather, and where we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by our skilled baristas," the chain said in a letter sent to invited staff.

"We know the power of in-person connection. We haven't met as a group since 2019, and we're excited to bring our North America retail leaders together again in 2025 to help us get 'back to Starbucks,'" it continued.

Starbucks declined to share details of the event's location and dates, though users on a Subreddit for Starbucks staff said they had been told it would be hosted in Las Vegas.

The last similar conference for senior retail staff was hosted in Chicago toward the beginning of September 2019, just a few months before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1987, the Windy City was the location of the first US Starbucks store away from its headquarters in Seattle.

2019's three-day event consisted of learning and speaker sessions at McCormick Place Convention Center in the South side of Chicago. Over 10,000 store managers from the US and Canada were in attendance, along with 2,000 regional leaders, the senior leadership team, and staff.

New CEO Niccol looks to make his mark

News of the conference comes as the coffee giant's new CEO, Brian Niccol, looks to make his mark.

Since joining the coffee giant in September, Niccol has said he envisions Starbucks stores becoming places where people want to hang out again, focusing on the value of in-person experiences.

"Our stores will be inviting places to linger, with comfortable seating, thoughtful design and a clear distinction between 'to-go' and 'for-here' service," he said in an open letter.

Earlier this week, the firm said it would expand its free refills policy to all customers at participating cafés as part of its new code of conduct, effective January 27. Starbucks rewards members were previously the only ones who could get a free top-up of their order.

The coffee company also announced it would be reversing its open-door policy, which lets non-paying guests use store facilities, like bathrooms, indoor communal areas, and patios.

As a former boss of the Mexican grill chain Chipotle, Niccol attended the California-headquartered fast food chain's all-manager conference in March in Las Vegas.

Attendees included restaurant general managers, executives, and employees with more than 20 years of experience. Chipotle held a similar conference in 2022.

The label would plainly show whether the food has low, med, or high levels of fat, sodium and added sugars

Several people online noted that they thought the new logo looks "exactly the same" as its previous logo

• Starbucks is extending its free refills policy to non-rewards members with reusable cups.
• Customers at participating stores will be eligible for a top-up of many brewed coffee and teas.
• Starbucks is also reversing its open-door policy, limiting facilities to paying customers and staff.

Starbucks is expanding its free refills policy to all customers at participating stores as part of its new code of conduct, effective January 27.

Non-rewards members at the coffee giant will soon be able to receive refills at no extra cost as long as their beverage is prepared in a clean reusable cup or a for-here utensil. They also must order in-store and within the same visit.

The offer includes hot and iced brewed coffee and tea but excludes flavored iced tea, cold brew, nitro cold brew, iced tea lemonade, and its Refreshers.

Starbucks rewards members were previously the only ones who could get a free top-up of their order. From February 12th, loyal customers will also have to use a reusable cup or a ceramic in-house mug to be eligible for a refill.

The Seattle-headquartered coffee chain said on Monday that it would also reverse its open-door policy.

The policy was first introduced in 2018 after Starbucks faced widespread criticism over an incident in which two men having a business meeting were arrested at a Philadelphia location after they tried to use the restroom without purchasing anything.

The policy lets non-paying guests use store facilities, like bathrooms, indoor communal areas, and patios.

From January 27th, these spaces will only be reserved for staff, customers, and people accompanying those making purchases.

"Implementing a Coffeehouse Code of Conduct is something most retailers already have and is a practical step that helps us prioritize our paying customers who want to sit and enjoy our cafés or need to use the restroom during their visit," Starbucks' representative Jaci Anderson told BI in an emailed statement.

The changes come as new CEO Brian Niccol sets out his vision to make Starbucks cafés places where people want to hang out again.

• Barnes & Noble plans to open around 60 new stores in the US, says CEO James Daunt.
• Daunt said it would be "logical" to consider a future initial public offering in London or New York.
• Barnes & Noble was acquired by Elliott Investment Management for $683 million in 2019.

James Daunt, the CEO of Barnes & Noble and Waterstones, said he would open about 60 new stores in the US.

The British bookseller boss told the Financial Times that he is considering a future initial public offering in London or New York as well as the expansion.

Throughout 2024, 57 Barnes & Noble locations were opened across the US, which currently has approximately 600 stores. In the UK, 12 new stores were added. Speaking about additions in the new year, Daunt said to the FT that he plans to "do that or more in 2025."

Barnes & Noble is the largest book chain in America. After he quit his investment banking job, Daunt launched Daunt Books in London in 1990 — where there are now about 10 stores. In 2011, he was appointed managing director of British bookseller Waterstones to help the struggling business, which faced growing competition from Amazon.

In 2018, Waterstones was sold to Elliott Investment Management by Russian billionaire and publisher Alexander Mamut. Barnes & Noble was acquired by the same New York-headquartered hedge fund the following year for $683 million.

Daunt was named CEO of both book retailers. He also continues to run his independent book chain in London.

The Barnes & Noble and Waterstones boss told the FT it would be "logical" to contemplate an IPO but that any plan would be based on Elliott's strategy for the future. Citing a person familiar with the matter, the FT reported there are no current plans to list the chains. However, it could be a possibility at a later stage.

At present, Daunt hopes to combine the IT and finance platforms at Barnes & Noble and Waterstones into one system.

He noted that it was a "solid Christmas" because as the holiday fell on a Wednesday, last-minute shoppers had the weekend before to purchase gifts.

"The last weekend and [December] 23-24 were exceptional on both sides of the Atlantic," he told the FT. "It has been a good post-Christmas as well."

• Shoppers spent cautiously during the holiday season.
• There are some signs that consumers could feel better about spending more in 2025.
• But tariffs and a dip in consumer confidence paint a more ominous picture for the new year.

Shoppers are entering 2025 cautiously after years of escalating prices and amid worries about the impact of potential tariff increases under the incoming Trump administration.

The holiday shopping season showed once again that customers are willing to spend — but only if the price is right. Shoppers could become less price-conscious as the year goes on, however, if inflation doesn't pick up its pace again.

"This holiday season, we saw consumers motivated by deals and retailers respond with promotions to meet the demand," Steve Sadove, a senior advisor for Mastercard and former CEO of department store Saks, said as part of the Mastercard SpendingPulse survey.

Released the day after Christmas, the survey showed that US retail sales grew 3.8% between November 1 and December 24.

Optimism among consumers reached its highest point since before the pandemic in the fourth quarter of 2024, McKinsey's ConsumerWise survey found.

The survey also showed that, despite their stated optimism, shoppers were planning to spend the same or less on most products, other than holiday-related categories such as toys, than they did during the third quarter. That indicates an ongoing tough environment for retailers.

"Consumers may have reported feeling more optimistic in the fourth quarter, but that does not mean they intend to spend more as a result," McKinsey said in the survey.

Going into the holidays, Costco members were being "very choiceful about how they're spending the dollars," CFO Gary Millerchip said on an earnings call in December.

But Millerchip also pointed to robust spending on optional items, such as jewelry and sporting goods, as holiday shopping ramped up. "It reflects the fact that our members are willing to spend as inflation comes down," Millerchip said.

If price increases do continue to slow — a tailwind that Goldman Sachs expects will continue in 2025 — consumers could feel better about spending more.

But there are also signs that things could get worse.

Just before Christmas, consumer confidence fell near levels usually associated with an imminent recession as many shoppers worried about their future incomes and the cost of living.

Another round of tariffs on imports into the US from the incoming Trump administration could also raise prices for shoppers if manufacturers, retailers, and others pass the costs to consumers.

So, even though the Mastercard SpendingPulse survey pointed to a fairly happy holidays for shops and shoppers alike, the new year still looks uncertain for both groups after a tricky 2024.

• Walmart, Target, Trader Joe's, and Costco plan to open new stores in 2025.
• New store openings are planned in over 10 states, including California, Texas, and Michigan.
• Walmart told Business Insider it plans to open six Supercenters and three Neighborhood Markets.

Some of America's favorite grocery store chains could open up stores near you in 2025.

Walmart, Target, Trader Joe's, and Costco have all announced several new stores they expect to open in the new year across more than 10 states.

Here's the full list.

Walmart

Walmart has more than 4,600 locations in the US and plans to open nine new stores in 2025 and one Sam's Club, which Walmart also owns. Walmart told Business Insider it plans to open in the following locations in 2025:

Walmart Supercenters

• Mountain View, California
• Eastvale, California
• Cypress, Texas
• Frisco, Texas
• Melissa, Texas
• Celina, Texas

Walmart Neighborhood Markets

• Tuscaloosa, Alabama
• Milton, Florida
• Pace, Florida

Sam's Club

• Tempe, Arizona

Target

With 1,963 locations in the US, Target says most American households are located within 10 miles from at least one of its stores. Still, the grocery giant plans to open more than 30 new locations. A Target spokesperson said the company could not confirm when those stores were expected to open, but at least three are expected to open in 2025, according to the hiring page on the company's website. Those three are located in:

• South Lake Tahoe, California
• Surprise, Arizona
• Denton, Texas

Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's, which has hundreds of locations around the US, said it expects dozens more to open in 2025. The company's website lists 12 new locations expected to open soon, though it does not specify an exact date. The locations include:

• Northridge, California
• Sherman Oaks, California
• Tarzana, California
• Seattle, Washington
• Bellingham, Washington
• Murfreesboro, Tennessee
• Berwyn, Pennslyvania
• Staten Island, New York
• Hoover, Alabama
• Two locations in Washington, DC
• Rockville, Maryland

Costco

As of November 2024, Costco had 896 locations worldwide, with 616 in the US. The wholesale warehouse giant has said it plans to open about 30 new locations in 2025, with six set to open in March. The locations set to open in March are:

• Brentwood, California
• Genesee County, Michigan
• Highland, California
• Prosper, Texas
• Sharon, Massachusetts
• Weatherford, Texas

• This is the busiest time of year for returning holiday gifts.
• Retailers from Amazon to L.L. Bean have adopted a range of return policies.
• Most shoppers consider whether they can make free returns when deciding where to shop.

That unwanted kitchen gadget or too-big sweater someone gave you over the holidays represents a growing problem for retailers.

With the holiday shopping season over, retailers now face return requests from customers at the fastest pace of the year. The days between December 26 and 28 are the busiest for returns, with up to three times more than usual, payments platform Lightspeed Commerce found in a review of returns data collected over the last two years.

The amount of stuff that gets returned has been growing each year, too.

Marcus Shen, the CEO of B-Stock, which resells returned items and other excess merchandise, told Business Insider that his company has seen the volume of returns that it processes grow over the last few years. Some of the most-returned items include clothing, electronics, and toys, Shen said.

The share of goods returned to retailers is expected to reach almost 17% and be worth $890 billion this year, a report from the National Retail Federation, or NRF, found earlier this month. In 2019, it was about 8%.

The growth of e-commerce — and easy return policies at many retailers — has contributed to that explosion of returns, Shen said. Some shoppers even plan on making returns from the start with strategies like bracketing, which is buying multiple sizes or colors of an item with the intent to keep just one and return the others.

"I think that a lot of these very consumer-friendly policies are really a big driver here," Shen said.

Returns represent extra costs for the stores that handle them, whether it's the cost of shipping or marking down the price of the returned item when reselling it.

Many companies try to trim the costs of returns by offering customers incentives to use less costly methods. Earlier this year, for example, Amazon offered customers discounts on groceries if they stopped by an Amazon Fresh store to make a return.

Many retailers offer at least one free way to return a purchase, which often involves customers dropping their return off at a store or other physical location. That usually saves the retailer the cost of shipping the item from a customer's home to a processing center.

Many have also added incentives — or penalties — meant to steer customers toward those options.

Outdoor retailer REI, for instance, recently banned some customers who made frequent returns from doing so in the future. The action targeted a group of customers that had an average return rate of 79% on purchases, REI told ABC in November.

Amazon took a different approach with one of its policies, which tries to preempt returns entirely by letting shoppers on its website know when a product is frequently returned.

Other companies, such as L.L. Bean and GameStop, assess a fee of less than $10 in order to mail something back to them.

"Retailers are responding by investing in a variety of innovative returns options," the NRF said in its report. "But, at the same time, they are facing growing costs for managing and processing returns."

The NRF's report found that 76% of shoppers decide where to shop based on whether the retailer offers free returns.

"Given the priority shoppers place on free returns, retailers have to walk a fine line in implementing these policies," the NRF said in its report.

At the same time, retailers are paying more attention to controlling the costs of processing returns, Shen told BI.

Getting merchandise back to retailers is only part of the challenge: Once a retailer has the item, it has to decide whether to write it off completely or resell it at a discount, either to its own customers or through companies like Shen's.

"It's cash that's sitting on the floor of a warehouse," he said.

• Big Lots, Party City, and The Container Store reported either bankruptcy or store closures recently.
• It's a cap on a tough year for many retailers.
• Shoppers of almost all income levels have been watching their spending in 2024.

Trouble for a trio of retailers at the tail end of 2024 is a sadly fitting end to a tough year for retailers.

Home storage chain The Container Store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday. The retailer plans to reorganize and its CEO said that the company "is here to stay," but it said in May its full-year consolidated net sales dropped almost 20% year-on-year, and in October that second-quarter sales on the same basis fell 10.5%.

A day earlier, Party City said it would wind down operations and close all of its stores. That's on top of Big Lots, which said last Thursday it would start store-closing sales at all of its locations after its planned sale to a private equity firm fell through.

The few days of bad news caps a rough year for many retailers. Over 2,000 stores have closed this year in the US, by Business Insider's count.

Among the companies that have shuttered stores are drugstore chains CVS and Rite Aid, Family Dollar, and convenience store chain 7-Eleven.

Even some big-name chains that aren't closing stores are still having trouble. Starbucks' sales fell in the latest quarter, showing that new CEO Brian Niccol — brought in abruptly to help revitalize the company — has plenty to address at the chain in 2025.

Starbucks store employees have told BI that the coffee chain has operational issues to work out, from not scheduling enough workers at busy times to finding a better way to fill mobile orders.

Big Lots, Party City, and The Container Store all have pointed to recent economic factors, namely inflation and consumers who are less willing to spend.

In its statement on Saturday, for instance, Party City cited "an immensely challenging environment driven by inflationary pressures on costs and consumer spending, among other factors" in explaining the decision to wind down operations.

Satish Malhotra, CEO of The Container Store, referenced a "challenging macro-economic environment" in an email to customers this week.

Big Lots, meanwhile, has been saying for months that consumers were buying fewer couches, dining room sets, and other high-priced home furnishings. The chain saw "a significant consumer pullback in big-ticket items, particularly within the furniture and patio furniture categories," CEO Bruce Thorn said during an earnings call in June — the last one that the company hosted before announcing its now-scrapped deal to sell itself to Nexus Capital Management.

Inflation has decelerated this year for many items, yet shoppers are still cautious about what they buy, and prices for many items are still proportionally higher than before the pandemic. Many low-income consumers are having trouble stretching their paychecks to cover expenses, a development that has hurt Dollar General and other dollar stores.

More affluent consumers have also slowed their spending, turning away from stores where they have to pay full price and toward off-price chains like Nordstrom Rack as well as store-brand groceries at Walmart.

Even Target reported last month that many of its customers were sticking to buying essentials and shying away from impulse buys and more expensive items, leading the big box chain to cut its forecast.

So far, the outlook for 2025 isn't great. Advance Auto Parts and Walgreens have plans to shut 1,200 stores between the two chains, for example.

To be sure, all three retailers who reported bad news over the last few days faced challenges well before this month or even this year. Big Lots has been closing stores since last year. Party City filed for bankruptcy in January 2023. And The Container Store has reported quarterly drops in same-store sales for several consecutive quarters.

But if shoppers remain value-conscious and stick to stores they perceive as offering the best deals going into 2025, retailers could continue to have a tough time in the new year.

Do you work at a major retailer and have a story idea? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected]