Target and Kohl's are among the major retailers reinstating mask mandates for all employees at stores in areas where COVID-19 cases are on the rise due to the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Home Depot is going further by requiring employees, contractors and vendors to mask up in stores and offices and on all off-site job locations.

Target, CVS and Walmart will begin testing sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic bags, with the goal to eventually roll out winning solutions to stores and delivery platforms. The pilot program is part of the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag, managed by Closed Loop Partners, which began last summer and has received a $15 million collective commitment from the three retailers.

Amazon Prime shoppers who order grocery deliveries from Whole Foods Markets in five US cities will pay a $9.95 service fee starting Aug. 30. The retailer said the fees imposed in Boston, Chicago, Manchester, N.H.; Portland, Maine; and Providence, R.I., are being tested as a way to cover higher operating costs without raising food prices.

Coach and Kate Spade parent Tapestry will increase its minimum wage for hourly employees to $15 starting next month and pay one-time bonuses of $500 to store associates and $1,000 to store managers, the company said. Tapestry is also establishing the nonprofit Tapestry Foundation, with plans to invest $25 million in efforts related to environmental and social issues.

Amazon has expanded the rollout of Amazon One biometric hand scanners to its grocery stores, bookstores and 4-star locations across the US after the first one's debut last year. Now the company is offering $10 in store credit for shoppers who register their palm prints with the system, which links palm prints to their Amazon accounts and lets them pay with a swipe of the hand.

The holiday season is typically a time when retailers fill seasonal posts with people in need of extra cash, but this year, merchants are going into the season shorthanded and scrambling to fill vacant posts in a tight labor market. Turnover rates are soaring even as wage rates rise, and the number of job seekers is down 10% from pre-pandemic levels, while job vacancies have grown by nearly 70%, says Mathieu Stevenson, CEO of Snagajob.

Gap's back-to-school "Individuals" campaign features a 30-second spot starring Memphis, Tenn., elementary school teacher David Jamison, known as "The Dope Educator" via viral videos, greeting his class with handshakes and dances as they chant their mantra: "Who are we? The Rockets! The Rockets are? Respectful and responsible, optimistic, collegiate, knowledgeable, engage with enthusiasm, trustworthy and striving for success." The push is running across social and streaming TV, billboards at schools and in Times Square, and on the windows of the retailer's stores.

With the debut of products from Grove Collaborative on Target store shelves this spring, a whole new group of consumers has been introduced to natural products. Co-founder and CEO Stuart Landesberg joins Retail Gets Real to talk about the brand's evolution, teaming up with one of the biggest retailers in the country and how Grove Collaborative is helping consumers live a more sustainable lifestyle by building trust. Read more and listen to the episode.

Petco sales increased 10.4% in 2020. Source: NRF's 2021 Top 100 Retailers List compiled by Kantar.

New uses for the home and the booming real estate market led to an increase in sales for Wayfair and Williams-Sonoma Inc. in 2020. Apparel sales are also expected to increase as more people return to the office, reversing the dips seen when stores closed early last year. Read more.

High Bluff Capital Partners will acquire Atlanta-based Church's Chicken from FFL Partners for an undisclosed amount. High Bluff's growing restaurant portfolio under its REGO Restaurant Group arm includes Quiznos and Taco Del Mar, and the Church's deal will add 1,500 units around the world that collectively generated $1.2 billion in sales last year.