Weekly Newsletter
This Week in Retail
A five-minute read every Friday. The week's store closures and expansions with markets and box sizes, custom data visualizations for CRE operators, and the occasional deep-dive on a retailer worth understanding. Written by the GrowthFactor team.
Every Edition
What you’ll get
Closure & Expansion Tracker
The week's store moves in a pin-to-the-wall table: retailer, count, box size, markets, format type. Scannable in 60 seconds, ready for your committee deck.
Custom Data Visualizations
Every edition ships with inline charts built for the story. Openings versus closures, market comparisons, closure timelines. Designed for operators, not analysts.
Original Market Analysis
When a week has a thread worth going deep on, we take it. Reverse-engineered site selection formulas, new-market demographic profiles, closure pipeline maps. Powered by the GrowthFactor platform.
Archive
Past editions
7-Eleven Is Cutting 645 Stores. Dave's Hot Chicken Opened 8 in One Day. Sentiment Hit 47.6.
7-Eleven disclosed plans to cut 645 U.S. stores in fiscal 2026 against 205 opens. Dave's Hot Chicken opened 8 in one day. Michigan consumer sentiment hit 47.6, a record low. Same week.
65 Carl's Jr. Restaurants in Chapter 11. 15 Huey Magoo's Units on a Half-Size Prototype. Same Week.
Friendly Franchisees filed Chapter 11 on 65 California Carl's Jr. restaurants. Huey Magoo's signed a 15-unit Texas deal on a brand-new 1,500 sq ft prototype — half the traditional footprint. Diesel jumped 4.5% in one week. Two operators, same cost pressure, two different responses.
I Reverse-Engineered ALDI's Site Selection Formula From 67 Trade Zones
I profiled 67 ALDI trade zones across 8 states and found the 4 variables they hold constant. Then I scored their 5 new Phoenix sites against the baseline. Three are textbook. One is a genuine outlier.
Aldi Is Opening 180 Stores. Eddie Bauer Is Closing All 175. Same Quarter.
~3,000 locations going dark by mid-year. 1,500+ new stores committed in the same quarter. Here's who's closing what size box, who's expanding into those markets, and which formats backfill which.
Retail Earnings Didn't Get the Memo on Consumer Confidence
Consumer sentiment hits 2026 lows while Q4 retail earnings crush across formats. Oil above $110, Fed holds rates, tariffs baked in. The confidence gap between mood and money, and what it means for CRE.
The Economy Lost 92,000 Jobs in February. Card Spending Hit a Three-Year High.
February payrolls fell 92,000 while card spending hit a 3-year high. Off-price adds 360 stores. Apparel CPI spiked 1.3% in one month as tariff costs reach price tags. The spending base is strong but narrowing.
Ross Stores Posted +9% Comp. Wendy's Posted -11.3%. Same Week.
Ross Stores' +9% comp and Wendy's -11.3% define the widest Q4 earnings spread yet. 1,400+ store closures from six retailers, Target's $2B strategic pivot, and automation deployments at Walmart, Kroger, and NAPA reshape the tenant pipeline.
Q4 Earnings Looked Great. The 15% Tariff Landed the Same Week.
Four major retailers beat Q4 expectations the same week a 15% tariff surcharge took effect. JLL reports retail absorption doubled while construction starts fell 44%. The barbell between value and mid-market keeps widening.
This Week in Retail: February 2026 Edition
Dollar General's aggressive expansion continues, Chipotle tests a new format, and what the latest consumer spending data tells us about site selection in 2026.
Consumer Confidence Just Hit a Wall. Spending Didn't.
Consumer confidence hits recession thresholds while Walmart posts 4.6% comp growth and Redbook accelerates to 7.2%. The spending split, tariff front-loading, and private label records reveal where retail dollars are actually flowing.
730 Stores Got Their Notice This Week. One Chain Went Public.
Three retailers file bankruptcy (730+ stores closing) the same week Bob's Discount Furniture IPOs at $2.22B. Kroger gets a Walmart CEO. Target tests ChatGPT ads. The tenant roster is reshuffling.
The Speed Race: Walmart Bets $330M on Automation as Amazon Delivers 8 Billion Same-Day Items
Walmart bets $330M on Louisiana DC automation as Amazon delivers 8B same-day items in 2025. Tractor Supply expands final-mile to 1,200 stores. Eddie Bauer, Saks Off 5th join closure list.
Don’t miss the next edition
Subscribe now and get this Friday’s brief delivered straight to your inbox.