Retail & Consumer Goods

New York – October 29, 2026 -- The Farmer's Dog has become the official pet food partner of five college athletic departments for the next three years, building the deals around their live dog mascots. The schools are Georgia, Tennessee, UConn, Tulsa and Washington.

The release did not state financial terms. The partnership extends college sports' name, image and likeness (NIL) era to the mascots: Uga of Georgia, Smokey of Tennessee, Jonathan of UConn, Goldie of Tulsa and Dubs of Washington. The company will supply the dogs with human-grade meals and treats.

Learfield brokers a multi-school package with Altius advising

Learfield assembled the multi-school deal, and Altius Sports Partners is advising The Farmer's Dog on its collegiate strategy. Shawn Hegan, Learfield's Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships, said the pairing "just makes sense" given the fandom already built around each mascot.

CHARLOTTE – October 29, 2026 -- Replay Sports Cards won the Franchise Innovation Award for Most Innovative On-Boarding Program at Franchise Update Media's 2026 STAR Awards, and was the only brand honored in that category.

The Franchise Innovation Awards were presented alongside the STAR Awards at the Franchise Leadership & Development Conference in Atlanta, October 5-8. They recognize how franchise brands welcome, train and prepare new franchisees to open their doors.

Training covers counterfeits, buying and product cycles

Replay's program covers product cycles, condition and counterfeit basics, the buying process, community relations and in-shop experience. Franchisees also join a franchise community where best practices and real-world experience are shared regularly.

Foothill Ranch – October 29, 2026 -- Gatekeeper Systems has launched a rebuilt version of its FaceFirst facial recognition platform, which alerts retail security teams the moment an enrolled known offender enters a store. The system runs ROC's algorithm, ranked #3 globally in NIST testing.

FaceFirst merges separate portal, dashboards and insights panels into one interface

The update replaces the previously separate portal, dashboards and insights panels with a single environment. Gatekeeper says loss prevention and security staff can complete common tasks with fewer clicks. The platform also adds analytics, data governance and audit features, a modern architecture, and faster event-resolution tagging.

New tools target organized retail crime networks and repeat offenders

Four additions drive the commercial pitch:

WASHINGTON – October 29, 2026 -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is pairing criminal prosecutions with new filing rules to pursue importers that conceal hazards, after an $8 million fine in April 2026 and prison terms of 38 and 40 months in June 2025. Acting Chairman Peter A. Feldman set out the approach in a keynote at the 19th International Law Enforcement Intellectual Property Crime Conference in Bangkok.

Executives of Gree USA received prison terms over concealed fire hazards

Two Gree USA executives were sentenced in June 2025 for concealing fire hazards in defective dehumidifiers. The products were linked to more than 450 reported fires, over $19 million in property damage and four potentially associated deaths.

San Francisco – October 29, 2026 -- The RealReal (Nasdaq: REAL) has appointed Alexis Hoopes, who led eBay's $10 billion global fashion business, as Chief Merchandising Officer, handing her control of the luxury resale marketplace's merchandising strategy.

Hoopes to focus on luxury assortment, personalized discovery and supply growth

Hoopes will lead merchandising strategy with three stated priorities: strengthening the luxury assortment, improving personalized product discovery, and opening new growth opportunities through technology, data and global marketplace expertise. She said she intends to expand the assortment and unlock new sources of supply.

CEO Rati Sahi Levesque cited Hoopes' "rare combination of luxury merchandising expertise, global marketplace experience and operational discipline."

Klausen-Leopoldsdorf – October 29, 2026 -- Jürgen Bruckner, managing director of Austria's Bruckner Holding GmbH, says most of his organization's more than 22,000 customers buy products repeatedly without joining the sales structure. He names this as the key test separating legitimate direct selling from pyramid schemes.

Bruckner ties legitimacy to the source of revenue

Bruckner, active in the industry for more than twelve years, argues that a business funded mainly by entry fees and recruitment lacks economic substance. Such a structure survives only while new participants keep paying in. He says compensation linked to actual product sales, rather than to position in the hierarchy, undercuts the claim that only the first entrants earn money.

Dublin – October 29, 2026 -- Temu plans to invest about $200 million in compliance and quality assurance worldwide in 2026, twice its 2025 spending, as it adds in-house product testing laboratories inside its logistics partners' warehouses.

Bureau Veritas confirms the labs can run defined European-standard tests

Bureau Veritas audited the labs' testing equipment, premises, technical staff, workflows and quality assurance systems. It confirmed the labs meet the technical requirements for the intended tests under selected European standards.

The audit is not a product certification. Temu said the warehouse labs complement independent third-party testing and do not replace sellers' legal responsibility for product compliance.

HOUSTON – October 29, 2026 -- Group 1 Automotive (NYSE: GPI) posted third-quarter diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $8.59, up from $1.02 a year earlier. Adjusted diluted EPS, a non-GAAP measure, fell to $9.36 from $10.45 as the retailer closed a $1.7 billion-revenue Atlanta acquisition and pushed ahead with disposals to cut leverage.

Net income rises to $102.9 million while adjusted profit declines

Net income from continuing operations reached $102.9 million, compared with $13.1 million in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted net income from continuing operations fell to $112.1 million from $135.1 million. Total revenues were $5.4 billion, down from $5.8 billion.

MILTON KEYNES – October 29, 2026 -- CookieYes, a consent management platform used by more than 2 million websites, has won Shopify's Built for Shopify badge for its cookie consent app, with daily installs up 59% since a 23 September update.

Shopify awarded the badge on 9 October 2026. It goes to apps that meet the platform's highest standards for performance, design and integration, including storefront speed and ease of use. More than 8,600 Shopify stores have installed the app to date.

CookieYes offers all essential Shopify features free within fair usage limits

The free tier includes advanced features, according to the company. Merchants install the app from the Shopify App Store, select target regions, customise the consent banner and activate it through Shopify's theme editor. No coding or separate dashboard is required.

DUBLIN – October 29, 2026 -- Temu plans to invest approximately US$200 million globally in compliance and quality assurance in 2026, twice its 2025 level, as laboratories inside its fulfilment partners' warehouses pass an independent Bureau Veritas assessment.

Bureau Veritas audits equipment, staff and quality systems at Temu's warehouse labs

Bureau Veritas evaluated the laboratories' testing equipment, facilities and environmental conditions, technical personnel, operating procedures and quality control systems. It confirmed the labs meet the technical requirements to run specified tests against selected European standards.

The assessment covers technical capability only. It does not constitute product certification, and the labs do not replace sellers' responsibility to meet applicable regulatory requirements.