Active wear brands are looking to build on pandemic-era growth by offering "workleisure" options for consumers returning to the office. Direct-to-consumer brand Rhone sells chinos, button-down shirts and other commuter-friendly clothing made with the performance material used in its active wear products, and non-active styles have grown to account for half of 2021 sales for active wear brand Vuori.

Home Depot will continue its partnership with Alphabet-owned Google Cloud, which has allowed the home improvement retailer to add a rental service for heavy equipment through its mobile app and incorporate artificial intelligence into its inventory operations, among other cloud-enabled efforts. With the extended partnership, Home Depot will focus on enhancing services it already offers and adding new ones, including a tool to accurately estimate costs for kitchen renovations, Chief Information Officer Matt Carey said.

C&S Wholesale Grocers will acquire the frozen service contract for Albertsons from Burris Logistics. "We look forward to further strengthening our service in the important growing frozen segment and supporting the growth and continued success of our retail partner Albertsons," said C&S CEO Bob Palmer.

The US online grocery market saw a 23% year-over-year decline in June sales, according to the Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey. While sales fell to $6.8 billion, grocery pickup continued to strengthen as the monthly average user base grew nearly 16%.

Retail merchandising company Siffron is refining display methods to keep pace with seafood's popularity after sales spiked during the pandemic. Thirty-five percent of shoppers reported cooking more seafood now than before the outbreak, according to a study from Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

A study from FMI shows food retailers have increased their commitment to health and well-being, with 84% of respondents saying their company has defined a health and well-being strategy. "Eighty-five percent of food retail executives who responded to the survey view these initiatives as key selling points for their store's brand to compete for customer loyalty, and 69% believe they are a significant business growth opportunity for the entire industry in the years ahead," said FMI's Krystal Register.

Crocs CEO Andrew Rees reported that shoe sales were almost twice as much in the three-month period that ended June 30 compared to the same period in 2020, coming in at a record £465 million. The clogs' popularity increased during the pandemic and the trend will likely continue due to social media campaings and celebrity endorsements.

China-based fashion brand Shushu/Tong is attracting buyers with its fun, frivolous designs reminiscent of a time before the pandemic. The company opened an online store on Alibaba's Tmall in December, resulting in both increased sales and attention from European retail channels.

Jokr, a German startup that aims to make deliveries of retail merchandise within 15 minutes, raised $170 million in a funding round. With the new capital, it plans to expand to other European countries and the Americas.

The A Modo Mio Voicy from Lavazza is the first coffee maker that incorporates Amazon's Alexa. The voice assistant lets home chefs command the machine to make coffee, adjust the temperature and even change the machine's volume, among other things.