As century-old CPG giant Mars works to maintain its dominance in the shopping carts of today’s consumers, it’s found that what’s old can be new again—with a little help.

Mars was created in 1911, and bought the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, founded in 1891, for $23 billion in 2008. The company now encompasses candy brands like M&Ms, Snickers, Twix, and Skittles, as well as chewing gum brands like Orbit, Extra, and Eclipse. Mars’s strength comes largely from those household brand names, its chief brand officer, Rankin Carroll, told Retail Brew; however, when it comes to marketing to consumers, the company has had to “change almost every aspect of how we work.”

Carroll joined Mars in 2002, eventually rising in the ranks to hold positions including president of its global candy and chocolate business units, before eventually overseeing its global branding and content starting in 2020. During this time, the company has worked to keep up with changing technology to keep these iconic brands relevant.

“Transformation is never going to stop,” he said. “That’s the conclusion we’ve come to in the last 10 years, probably, is that the pace of innovation is endless, and it’s only going to accelerate.”

Keep reading here.—EC

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Lots of retail executives used July as a time to say goodbye to their current roles—chiefs at Burberry, Tom Ford, Joann, and Saks stepped away. Here are the most notable moves to know about:

• Burberry CEO Jonathan Akeroyd exited his role, and Joshua Schulman, former CEO of Michael Kors, Coach, and Jimmy Choo, assumed the chief executive spot by.
• After stepping down as CEO of Five Below after about 10 years at the retailer, Joel Anderson was named chief executive at Petco, following the departure of Ron Coughlin four months ago.
• Tom Ford creative director Peter Hawkings, the successor of designer Tom Ford, abruptly stepped away after taking on the role just last year.
• Shiseido chairman and CEO Masahiko Uotani will retire at the end of the year, the company announced; president and COO Kentaro Fujiwara will replace him on January 1.

Keep reading here.—EC

In case you thought the summer sales season had run its course, Lowe’s is tossing in a “Closeout” sales event for good measure. Running through Wednesday, the home improvement retailer is offering 60% off items ranging from patio furniture to kitchen appliances. As Retail Brew reported last month, the summer is becoming a hotbed of sales events as retailers compete with Amazon Prime Day.

In earnings: It’s a relatively quiet week, earnings-wise, but there are still a handful of potentially interesting calls on the docket. Simon Property Group is reporting today, and the mall operator usually offers some insights on the state of brick-and-mortar retail and consumer behavior overall. The next big retailer reporting is CVS on Wednesday, which should provide an update on its ongoing expansion into primary healthcare—even as rivals like Walgreens pull back.

Keep reading here.—AV

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