The Midwest is considered the heartland of America, but it’s not necessarily the first region that comes to mind when people think about shopping destinations. Developers in St. Louis are attempting to change that, reminding retailers that there’s value outside of Los Angeles and New York.

City Foundry STL is a new mixed-use development in the heart of the city that brings together retail, food, and entertainment concepts to a city already bustling with new projects. The space officially opened in August 2021, but this year has started to fill out and now sits at 91% occupancy.

• There’s a blend of local and national businesses that have set up shop at City Foundry, including Alamo Drafthouse, Sandbox VR, City Winery, Golden Gems, and May’s Place. There’s also a food hall inside that houses 18 restaurants.
• Sam Adler is the managing director of development at New + Found, the development firm behind the project. He told Retail Brew that City Foundry took inspiration from New York’s Chelsea Market and Atlanta’s Ponce City Market—just on a smaller scale.

Keep reading here.—KM

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Fruit of the Loom introduced the “Fruit Guys,” four actors dressed up as an apple, a bunch of red grapes, a bunch of green grapes, and a leafy shrub, in 1975, and the brand mascots would appear in commercials for decades.

Particularly memorable is a 1978 spot featuring the actor Loretta Tupper, then in her seventies, who adoringly holds up a pair of white briefs and says, “Girls, I bought a lot of underwear for my men, and years ago, I picked Fruit of the Loom,” at which point all four of the characters magically appear in her living room.

The characters evolved, reflecting the evolution of television advertising itself, and instead of pitching particular attributes of the brand’s underwear and casual clothing, the characters in the early aughts were featured in a music video spoof reminiscent of Coldplay, moodily singing about underwear.

Then, in 2011, as if they were overripe and fruit flies were hovering over them, the Fruit Guys were tossed on marketing’s compost heap, and Fruit of the Loom stopped featuring them in advertising.

Now they’re back—but with some key updates.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Happy fall. Since we gave you a heads-up last week that it was National Cheeseburger Day, we thought it would be particularly fitting to mention that Friday is National Coffee Day. Just remember to think of us when you grab your freebie.

Here’s what else is going on this week in the retail universe.

In events: eBay Open, the company’s annual seller summit that brings together eBay’s leaders, entrepreneurs, and merchants for four days of presentations and networking, starts Tuesday. It’s also an opportunity for the company to showcase its latest offerings and products, including its recently released generative AI tool.

Keep reading here.—KM

Today’s top retail reads.

Poultry slam: The Labor Department reportedly is investigating Perdue and Tyson for alleged child-labor violations in the wake of an exposé in the New York Times Magazine. (the New York Times)

Early birds: Diners are making more reservations at 6pm and earlier, even in New York. (Marketplace)

Snap: Why Lego abandoned plans to make bricks out of recycled water bottles that would have had an even bigger carbon footprint. (Financial Times)

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At the mall, it’s where band tees are the only tees. In Retail Brew, it’s where we invite readers to weigh in on a trending retail topic.

An FDA panel has ruled that phenylephrine, the active ingredient in OTC medications for allergies and colds including Benadryl Allergy Plus Congestion, Sudafed PE, and Vicks Sinex, is ineffective. If the FDA makes a final ruling that the drug is a dud (in terms of effectiveness), brands may have to remove the products from shelves and reformulate them.

You tell us: Given the ruling from the FDA panel that phenylephrine is ineffective, do you think brands with products that contain the ingredient should proactively pull products from shelves, or wait for the FDA to make a final decision? Cast your vote here.

Circling back: Last time, we noted that two supermarket chains in France, Carrefour and Intermarché, have festooned shelves with signs warning shoppers that a product has been shrinkflated. No major US supermarket chains have called out products for shrinkflation with shelf signage yet, so we asked if you thought supermarkets on these shores should.

Some of you clearly took it very personally when you realized there were fewer sheets on the Charmin mega roll. No fewer than 88.5% of you said yes, supermarket chains should warn shoppers about products that have been shrinkflated, while 10.4% said no, supermarkets should not alert shoppers that products have been shrinkflated. Only 1.1% did not know or weren’t sure.