Dollar stores have been making headlines recently as cash-strapped consumers increasingly turn to them for essentials amid continually inflated prices.

Ahead of Groceryshop, Retail Brew had scheduled time to chat with Dollar General SVP and CMO Chad Fox, who was in attendance for a panel at the show. Initially, the plan was to discuss Dollar General’s marketing strategy and challenges Fox is facing as a retail marketer (which was still brought up, see below), but an in-depth Bloomberg story detailing a slew of allegations around employee safety and product quality issues was published the night before the interview and brought a different challenge to the forefront.

Before we share some of Fox’s broader marketing insights, we wanted to share his response to the recent headlines and how, in his role, he says he’s working to improve consumer sentiment around store safety and employee treatment.

“I’m going to leave that to our PR team and other people who deal with that on a daily basis,” Fox prefaced. (Dollar General’s PR team told Bloomberg it’s boosting labor to improve these conditions, among other efforts. It declined to comment further to Retail Brew.)

“From my perspective, we need to do a couple of things,” Fox told us. “I’m not going to say that we’re perfect, but the customer is at the center, and the customer does come first, and that’s why we do what we do.”

Keep reading here.—EC

To crush it in the retail space, you gotta nail the shopping experience where it matters most: in shopper’s feeds. Why? Because online feeds are Gen Z’s version of shopping malls, so it’s essential to make sure your brand knows this space inside and out.

But have no fear. Connect your online store to TikTok Shop. This new platform hooks you up with tons of features that’ll help you boost sales. We’re talkin’ shoppable videos, selling opportunities with top-notch creators, and capturing the attention of audiences through TikTok’s discovery engine.

Used by brands like REVOLVE, The Ordinary, and OtterBox, TikTok Shop offers tons of tools to help you ace it, like:

• streamlined logistics solution
• a Seller Academy for step-by-step tutorials
• real-time insights into engagement and sales data

Turn all that scrolling into sales.

Target has dominated store closure news recently. Its latest move to close nine locations adds to this year’s total of roughly 3,200 retail stores closing their doors.

Here are some of the most recently announced brick-and-mortar closures, in addition to a couple of openings that could signal a shift for retailers attempting to capture new audiences.

Rite Aid

Pharmacy chain Rite Aid announced plans last month to close 25% of its existing locations, roughly 400–500 stores, as part of its bankruptcy negotiations. Pharmacies have struggled in a retail environment that increasingly prioritizes digital transactions and with the evolving nature of how prescription drugs are paid for.

Keep reading here.—KM

The holidays are around the corner, and you know what that means…’tis the season for spending—and a new report says we’ll be buying more than last year.

Per Mastercard’s SpendingPulse report, US holiday spending between November 1 and December 24 is predicted to be up 3.7% compared to the same period in 2022.

But it’s not like inflation has had no impact on consumer spend at all. For context, the same report last year predicted consumers would spend 7.1% more than in 2021.

Keep reading here.—JS