Atlas Shrugged (At My Shopping Cart)

‍Your Dick’s Just Got Swole with Gymshark. UK fitness brand Gymshark is making its US wholesale debut, having taken a slow and steady approach to retail expansion. Through an exclusive partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, the brand will appear in 12 House of Sport stores across ten states, including Arizona, Texas, New Jersey, and Ohio.

Our Take: Mitch Healey, Gymshark’s North America Director of Retail and Wholesale, noted that its first wholesale partner would need to be an “iconic brand” that would “bring the authentic Gymshark experience to their community. Given House of Sport’s emphasis on retailtainment and commerce through culture and play, it was clearly a no-brainer. 

Gymshark has developed a reputation for its immersive and community-driven environments (we shared our experience at its superhero-themed pop-up in NYC this past summer), so it can’t afford to be in just any retail store. This intentional approach to wholesale ensures that the brand grows into new markets while attracting the archetypes that align best with the brand’s mission and vision. This playbook is a stark contrast to Nike, which is currently fighting to win back wholesale shelf space and trust after completely diverting from its strategy in favor of DTC growth. 

‍Let the Holiday Sales Blitz Begin. At Future Commerce, we’ve been analyzing and reporting on the shuffling of the holiday calendar, from earlier back-to-school shopping sales to the pull-back of Black Friday shopping customs into fall. Best Buy is showing it’s in tune with these shifts by giving consumers an exclusive look at its holiday event calendar, which is kicking off on Halloween. The Door BOOsters event adds to an already-stacked calendar that includes new doorbusters every Friday, early Black Friday deals, ACTUAL Black Friday sales, Cyber Sunday and Monday, and of course, last-minute savings in the final week before Christmas. 

During the Fortune “Most Powerful Women” Summit, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry noted that the “dispersion between the high income earners and the low income earners” is keeping her up at night. A much larger cohort focusing on value puts Best Buy in a tough spot this holiday season, when consumers typically rush to purchase appliances, electronics, and gaming systems. The retailer is not only doubling down on sales events; it’s also offering products at a greater range of price points and offering AI tools to help customers find the best products for their budgets. 

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BTW, Best Buy isn’t the only one pushing its holiday sales messaging early. Dollar General has started its PR campaign to promote seasonal deals, including having most toys priced $20 or less. If you are looking for some tips to perfect your holiday messaging, you can start here. 

‍Toys “R’nt” Bust. Amazon, who? Despite the online giant’s prevalence, especially during the holiday season, Toys R Us is continuing its brick-and-mortar expansion, including seasonal holiday shops that will help it to win back some market share. The company shared on its website that it will open 30 new stores across the US, adding to its flagship locations in malls like American Dream and the Mall of America, as well as its nationwide presence in Macy’s stores. But Toys R Us kids aren’t just in North America; the brand also has plans to expand into new international markets, including Chile, Peru, and Lebanon.

The timing couldn’t be better, considering the nostalgic chain features prominently in Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst’s newest film, Roofman (2025), was filmed in an abandoned Toys “R” Us in Charlotte. Director Derek Cianfrance temporarily resurrected the store to accurately portray the events of the 2004 prison escape of Jeffrey Manchester, played by Tatum.

Makeup Shake-Up. L'Oréal is buying Kering’s beauty business for $4.7 billion. This monumental industry deal gives L'Oréal ownership of the House of Creed fragrance brand and 50-year exclusive licenses for Kering brands like Gucci, Bottega Veneta, and Balenciaga to develop and sell both beauty and fragrance products. But both companies consider this to be a more long-term “strategic partnership” that will allow them to explore new opportunities “at the intersection of luxury, wellness, and longevity.” This joint venture builds upon an already established partnership that the companies have to support Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. 

This is just one makeup shake-up happening in luxury: LVMH is apparently exploring a sale of its 50% stake in Fenty Beauty, which is co-owned by Rihanna. The company has been on a bit of a selling spree to streamline its portfolio. After offloading Off-White to Bluestar Alliance and Stella McCartney back to its founder, LVMH is considering a sale of Marc Jacobs, too. 

‍Frankendough, Anyone? Krispy Kreme is going hard on the novelty donut competition with its Frankendough Dozen Monster Deal. Today and tomorrow, sugar junkies can spend $13 to get a mixture of ten Frankendoughnuts, one Frank Doughnut dipped in green icing, chocolate cookie crunch, and a decorative stitch (naturally), and a Francine Doughnut with a decorative white hair streak. 

This Halloween, consumers are all about escapism. Despite economic uncertainty, most consumers are celebrating Halloween and are spending an average of $289, according to new PwC survey data. But surprise, surprise, parents are the power spenders for the holiday, doling out an average of $445 on costumes, decorations, and yes, novelty foods and drinks. Spider Daddy would be proud.

‘Big Margarita’ Buries Holiday Eggnog. Cointreau, the essential ingredient in The Original Margarita, is encouraging consumers to shake up (no pun intended) their holiday beverage traditions. Following the success of its Any Tequila campaign, the brand is bringing back Aubrey Plaza to announce that margaritas are crashing the holiday party this year. They are also selling a limited-edition gift set that includes a decanter of Any Tequila signed by the star and special seasonal recipes. 

‍ChatGPT Joins the Web Browser Wave. Just a few weeks after Perplexity opened its AI browser Comet to all worldwide users, ChatGPT has unveiled its own interpretation, Atlas, for macOS to Free, Plus, Pro, and Go users. Experiences for Windows, iOS, and Android are coming soon.

A browser built with ChatGPT essentially allows you to bring the tool “with you” anywhere across the web, helping you gather information and complete tasks without leaving the window. Because ChatGPT's memory is “built in,” conversations draw on past chats and details, so the browser gets smarter over time. 

Perhaps the most compelling part of the release is that Atlas users can turn on “agent mode,” which can help them automate information gathering, tasks, event planning, and even appointment booking as they browse. However, users remain in control of what ChatGPT sees and remembers throughout the process. You can clear pages or your entire browsing history. Another option is to open an incognito window and temporarily log out of ChatGPT. 

Our Take: While this is an exciting new development in the agentic commerce era, there are still many limitations. It took Phillip about 25 minutes to build a Walmart shopping cart that included only milk, eggs, and Cheerios. It took Alicia’s agent 40 minutes to create an Amazon cart filled with suitable school snacks for her son. There’s something to be said about not having the mental and physical “load” of shopping, but sometimes, it’s just easier to do it yourself…

A Super Axe to Superintelligence Labs. A leaked memo delivered to The New York Times reveals that about 600 jobs have been cut from Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, the umbrella division for all the company’s AI efforts. New VIP hires, including AI chief Alexandr Wang, won’t be affected. Rather, the cuts will help right-size the team after several years of aggressive hiring, so it can develop and launch AI products faster.