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Casual restaurant chains continue battling industry headwinds, such as declining foot traffic, increased lease rates, and other rising costs, that are forcing companies to close dozens of underperforming locations.

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. said it plans to close 20 restaurants in 2026 as leases expire after closing 23 locations in 2025. The Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain has been downsizing its chain for almost 20 years, as its locations have declined from 945 locations in 2007 to about 174 today.

Bravo Italian Kitchen closed locations in Ohio and Iowa in September 2026.TennesseePhotographer / Getty Images

Bravo Italian Kitchen closes locations

Bravo Italian Kitchen has continued closing locations since filing for bankruptcy in August 2025, as it has abruptly closed its restaurant at the Dayton Mall in Miami Township in Ohio, a WDTN-TV report said on Sept. 8.

The chain also shuttered its location at the Jordan Creek Town Center in Des Moines, Iowa, the Des Moines Register reported on Sept. 4.

The Italian restaurant chain’s sister establishment Brio Italian Grille has closed locations in 2026, shuttering its Cherry Hill, N.J., unit in June, according to NJ.com; a Marlton, N.J., location in May, a Freehold Raceway Mall restaurant in Freehold, N.J., in February, and one at the Mall at Millenia in Orlando, Fla., also in February, Orlando Business Journal reported.

Brio Italian Grille also closes units

The restaurant chain owner has closed 9 Bravo Italian Kitchen locations in the last year and currently operates a total of 14. It also closed 9 Brio Italian Grille locations since it filed for bankruptcy in August 2025, and now operates 16 locations.

Bravo Brio Restaurants LLC, which was owned by Planet Hollywood owner Earl Enterprises, and four affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for a second time on Aug. 18, 2025, to reorganize its business and restructure debt, as it operated 25 Brio Italian Grille in 12 states and 23 Bravo Italian Kitchen locations also in 12 states at the time.

Bravo Brio said the Chapter 11 filing would allow it to close underperforming locations, restructure its debt, and cut costs. The debtor blamed the economy for its economic distress.

“In addition, ongoing inflationary pressure, rising food and labor costs and a softening in discretionary consumer spending have contributed to underperformance, especially in shopping centers with high vacancies and declining foot traffic,” the company said as Restaurant Business reported. 

“These pressures have proved insurmountable to numerous other legacy casual-dining restaurant brands, many of whom have also turned to bankruptcy as a tool for restructuring,” the company said.

Declining mall traffic problem

A chronic brick-and-mortar problem with declining foot traffic had a significant impact on the Bravo Brio Restaurants chains as they had heavy exposure in malls, Restaurant Dive reported.

“The chains have had difficulty with restaurants located in shopping centers that have high vacancies and low foot traffic, problems which have only worsened with discretionary consumer spending softening,” according to Restaurant Dive.

“Ongoing inflationary pressures and increased food and labor costs contributed to the company’s deteriorating financial condition,” the report said.

Debtor found a buyer

R&R Brands, a multi-concept hospitality and entertainment company, purchased the chains out of bankruptcy on Oct. 6, 2025, according to Restaurant Dive.

The restaurant chain’s previous owner, Food First Global Restaurants, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2020, suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bravo Italian Kitchen opened in 1992 in Columbus, Ohio, and along with Brio Italian Grille, the two restaurant chains grew to a combined 130 locations at their peak. The chains had downsized to 118 operating restaurants by early 2017, according to its annual financial results for 2016.

Related: 49-year-old beloved pizza dining chain quietly closes locations

With more than 21,000 locations spread out across 48 states, Dollar General has the largest physical footprint of any retailer in the country.

The discount retailer’s size is undoubtedly a strength — approximately 75% of the population lives within 5 miles of a location, making it incredibly accessible — but it also creates a challenge.

Managing a chain of that size is no easy feat, with its enormous network of inventory, distribution centers, employees and customers to coordinate. 

In an effort to keep its scale an advantage rather than an operational headache, Dollar General is increasingly turning to AI to keep store shelves full and recommend more relevant bargains to shoppers during store visits.

AI changes how Dollar General runs its stores

At the end of August, Dollar General announced it would be partnering with Relex Solutions to “implement forecasting, replenishment, and allocation capabilities across its North American operations.”

The AI platform will help the retailer handle everything from store replenishment to ordering schedules, supplier management, and fulfillment methods across all 21,000 of its locations.

Also read: Women’s retailer closed 450 stores, heads to final liquidation

“We chose Relex because it gives us a practical way to use AI in our planning and helps our teams focus on the issues that truly need attention,” Jeff Vaughan, SVP Global Inventory Management at Dollar General, said in a statement accompanying the announcement. 

“The platform brings forecasting, replenishment, and allocation planning into a single environment, giving our teams greater visibility across the network,” he continued.

AI is changing what happens inside Dollar General stores

Relex isn’t the only AI platform Dollar General is using in its stores. 

In April, the retailer partnered with QSIC, rolling out an enhanced, AI-enabled in-store audio network across approximately 6,000 of its stores. 

The move was meant to help DG’s brands more meaningfully connect with customers, and to enhance the in-store shopping experience for its millions of regular customers.

“This platform allows us to deliver localized, real-time messaging at scale across the thousands of communities we serve – especially in underserved and often overlooked rural areas,” Austin Leonard, vice president and general manager of DG Media Network, said in a statement accompanying that announcement. 

“It’s a powerful way to create value for our brand partners while enhancing the in-store experience for the millions of customers who rely on Dollar General every day through more relevant, contextual messaging designed to add value, not noise, to their shopping trip,” he continued.

Scott Olson / Getty Images

Dollar General has bigger plans for AI

The two partnerships also offer a glimpse into how broad Dollar General’s AI ambitions are becoming.

“While we are still early in our AI journey, we are building agentic operating systems for the enterprise, focused on reshaping and optimizing our workflows to improve productivity throughout the organization,” CEO Todd Vasos told investors during the company’s second-quarter earnings call in late August. 

In other words, Dollar General isn’t just looking to use AI to make its existing processes more efficient. It’s beginning to use the technology to create a retail operation that can respond to what is happening across its enormous network in real time.

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Matt Elsley, CEO of QSIC, which provides Dollar General’s AI-enabled in-store audio technology, described the shift to me this way, “AI platforms are turning the store into a learning loop that gets smarter over time.”

“Digital media has worked this way for years, but physical retail hasn’t, and AI brings that speed and feedback,” he continued. “The bigger shift is in how retailers operate. Today, most retailers without these systems are working in the loop, manually trying to figure out the right strategy to deploy.”

But Elsley argues that bringing AI into physical stores doesn’t just benefit Dollar General, it can also create a better experience for its shoppers.

“Retailers are trying to lift the overall experience, and when that’s done well, it’s the best outcome for both the customer and the retailer,” he told me. “Think about the scale of the problem: these retailers carry tens of thousands of product lines, and Dollar General alone has more than 20,000 stores with an enormous amount of traffic walking through them. Delivering a contextual message to the right customer at the right time genuinely helps people discover things, and if even a small share of those shoppers finds one more useful product, the impact compounds very quickly across a network that size.”

AI could give Dollar General a new advantage

While efficiency may be the retailer’s stated goal for its AI use, the potential payoff extends much further.

As consumers become more budget-conscious, DG is facing increased competition from other value-driven retailers like Walmart, Dollar Tree, Aldi, and others. These chains offer similar deals, assortment, and convenience.

But AI use can give Dollar General an entirely new advantage: making its massive store footprint work harder for every customer who walks through the door.

“Competition from [other discount retailers] makes the traffic already inside Dollar General’s stores even more valuable,” Elsley told me. “Those retailers can fight to win the trip through price and promotions, but once a customer walks into a Dollar General, DG has a short window to help that shopper discover something they may not have planned to buy. AI-enabled audio allows Dollar General to use that moment deliberately, then measure whether the message changed the basket.”

“In a crowded value market, getting more from the store visit you have already won is just as important as chasing the next one,” he continued.

While Dollar General hasn’t specified how AI use has impacted its bottom line, the retailer has seen encouraging growth in both traffic and the average amount customers are spending.

At the close of Q2, net sales increased 5.2% to $11.3 billion, while same-store sales rose 3.5% during the quarter, driven by 2% growth in customer traffic and a 1.5% increase in average basket size.

Qualcomm has spent years trying to convince investors it can become more than a smartphone chip company.

Amazon may have just given it the biggest proof point yet.

Amazon (AMZN) can purchase up to $60 billion worth of Qualcomm’s (QCOM) AI data center chips, systems, technology, and manufacturing services in a long-term partnership focused on AI inference, the chipmaker said Sept. 8. Amazon also received warrants to buy up to 25 million shares of Qualcomm at $161.26 each, which at that exercise price could be worth about $4 billion.

The shares jumped more than 3% on the news.

The obvious story is Qualcomm snagged another big AI customer.

The more important one is that Amazon might help Qualcomm build the business it needs before one of its key smartphone income sources dries up.

Qualcomm told investors it sees its data center business reaching $15 billion in annual revenue by 2029. Suddenly, a potential $60 billion commitment from Amazon makes that target seem much less theoretical.

Amazon gives Qualcomm the validation it needed

The deal extends across several generations of custom silicon for Amazon Web Services, with the companies working together on chips designed for AI inference, the process of running trained AI models in production.

Qualcomm will also offer optical connectivity technology capable of delivering speeds up to 1.6 terabits per second to address the massive bandwidth requirements in today’s AI data centers.

That’s important because Qualcomm isn’t trying to out-Nvidia (NVDA) Nvidia by mimicking its strategy in its entirety.

Instead, the company is building a bigger AI infrastructure portfolio that includes custom compute, networking, and optical connectivity.

Last year, it acquired AlphaWave for $2.4 billion, bolstering its data-center technology and bringing AlphaWave CEO Tony Pialis into Qualcomm to oversee its data-center chip business.

Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META) customers already support Qualcomm’s data-center push. Amazon joins another hyperscaler with huge AI infrastructure requirements.

Qualcomm’s $60 billion deal comes with an unusual sweetener

The alliance also highlights how funding and strategic investment have become tightly entwined in the AI revolution.

Qualcomm also gave Amazon a warrant to acquire as many as 25 million shares at $161.26 each.

The shares don’t vest right away.

The warrants vest in phases when Amazon engages in commercial relationships, makes binding orders, and actually acquires Qualcomm equipment, according to Qualcomm’s Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The complete structure is related to as much as $60 billion in total payments. Some 3.75 million shares vested immediately upon first pledges.

The warrant expires in September 2036.

That framework provides Amazon an incentive to extend its connection with Qualcomm while providing Qualcomm something arguably more important than a simple supply agreement: a motivation for one of the world’s major cloud businesses to assist its AI infrastructure business in flourishing.

A similar framework came together only weeks ago when Marvell Technology agreed to an AI chip deal with Alphabet that provided Google the option to purchase a share valued at up to $12.2 billion.

Increasingly they are potential shareholders in their suppliers, who are AI customers.

Qualcomm’s $60 billion Amazon win could change how Wall Street sees itCheng Chia Huang / Getty Images

Apple makes Qualcomm’s AI pivot more urgent

Qualcomm’s timing is no coincidence.

Apple (AAPL) still makes most of its income from iPhones but has been slowly shifting toward its own modem technology.

Reuters stated that pressure has grown on Qualcomm to diversify due to the inevitable loss of Apple modem income, increasing component prices, and less demand for smartphones.

That makes the Amazon deal more than just another AI announcement.

It provides Qualcomm a possible bridge from a legacy company under structural strain into one of the fastest-growing sectors of semiconductor investment.

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Amazon itself has become increasingly important in custom chips. Its custom silicon business had surpassed a $25 billion annualized revenue run rate by the end of the June quarter.

So it makes AWS a critical client.

Amazon is not only purchasing chips because they are in a limited supply. It has its own significant custom silicon business, and as such, has strong incentives to examine performance, pricing, and architecture.

Winning that business is a credibility test Qualcomm appears to have passed.

Qualcomm’s real AI test starts after the headline

The $60 billion figure is enormous, but investors should be careful about treating it as guaranteed revenue.

The SEC filing stresses that the warrants vest when certain purchase milestones are met, up to the maximum $60 billion payment amount. That implies the headline figure is a potential scale of connection, not an imminent order book.

Related: The AI secret behind Qualcomm’s price hike

Qualcomm still has to execute.

It has to show its processors can compete in inference workloads, interact with hyperscaler infrastructure, and be able to scale with clients that have rapidly changing technological requirements.

Nvidia remains the dominant force in AI computing, while Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are simultaneously developing more of their silicon.

That makes Qualcomm’s opportunity more difficult than most: its largest clients are also its rivals.

The Amazon deal calls Qualcomm’s AI ambitions into question. The company’s $15 billion revenue target from data centers for 2029 was previously considered ambitious. A $60 billion Amazon customer relationship complicates that. Qualcomm told investors it could build a big business beyond smartphones for years. Amazon just gave investors a reason to start taking that claim much more seriously.

The public backlash against data centers has gotten so loud that President Donald Trump felt the need to address the issue a couple of weeks ago.

“The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backward and poor,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Aug. 31. “If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.”

The president then warned that China “could not be happier” with the U.S. populace turning against AI data centers.

While that sort of top-down leadership may work in off years, 2026 is an election year, and not only are the people making their voices heard, but state governments are actually listening.

States rescind AI data center tax breaks

Governors on both sides of the aisle are moving quickly ahead of November’s midterm elections.

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, have each taken steps to pause or restrict data center development in their states.

Apparently, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, in defiance of the party’s leader, Trump, issued a memo saying that anti-data-center sentiment in Ohio has eroded support for Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who took the seat vacated by Vice President JD Vance. If Husted loses to his Democratic challenger, Sherrod Brown, the NRSC says Republicans nationwide should take the defeat as a lesson and pull back from supporting data center expansion.

But the NRSC isn’t the only Republican entity pushing back against Trump on data centers. According to the Journal, several informal Trump advisers have privately expressed concern that his strong support for data centers risks making him seem indifferent to the concerns of everyday Americans.

But Trump isn’t up for re-election in November. Countless Republicans are, though, and the people’s concerns are real.

What’s driving AI data center backlash

With gas prices elevated and inflation stubbornly high, the average American is already struggling with day-to-day necessities. Rising energy prices due to AI data centers is only adding to the financial strain.

Wholesale energy prices near major data center hubs have more than doubled since 2020.

Related: Public outcry over data centers has banks recalculating risk

According to Monitoring Analytics, the federally mandated independent watchdog, the 75.5% increase in power costs in the country’s largest region has been directly caused by data centers.

Wholesale electricity prices went up from $77.78 per MWh in first quarter 2025 to $136.53 per MWh a year later.

“The price impacts on customers have been very large and are not reversible,” the watchdog said in the report. “The price impacts will be even larger in the near term unless the issues associated with data center load are addressed in a timely manner.”

So, according to Monitoring Analytics, the damage is already done, and we can’t reverse it. We can only hope not to make it worse in the future.

Data Centers are coming under fire from both republicans and democrats this election season.sinology / Getty Images

States with the biggest tax breaks for data centers

Minority party Democrats are going to have a field day hammering Republicans over data centers leading into Election Day. The states with the biggest giveaways to data centers are all either Red or Purple.

According to the Journal, the largest reported sales-tax exemptions for data centers last year included:

Virginia – $1.94 billion

Georgia – $1.9 billion

Ohio – $1.57 billion

Texas – $1.02 billion.

Ohio Democratic Rep. Tristan Rader wants to repeal his state’s data center sales-tax exemption and renegotiate past deals with the likes of Amazon, Meta and Alphabet.

“They seem to have more money than God, and they’re able to build without the need forthese types of incentives,” said Rader, according to the Journal. He is also proposing new data center taxes and requirements that developers pay more for power and electrical infrastructure.

Amazon says it has invested nearly $40 billion in Ohio data centers since 2015, creating thousands of jobs and paying nearly $11 million in state property taxes and fees last year. Meta said it has invested more than $2.3 billion in Ohio data centers since 2018 and paid over $40 million in property taxes and fees during that time.

Amazon, Google, Microsoft cancel data centers over opposition

Companies like Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Oracle are known as AI hyperscalers due to the hundreds of billions they’ve committed to building out AI and AI infrastructure. 

“The existence of OpenAI justified an era of mania and opulence. Hyperscalers, bereft of new hypergrowth ideas, were able to point at the fact that ChatGPT had ‘the fastest growing user base of all time‘ and the Microsoft ‘supercomputer’ that built it and tell their investors that if they didn’t invest, they’d be left behind, with Amazon, Meta, and Google announcing their own nebulous ‘supercomputers’ in 2023,” AI critic Ed Zitron recently stated.

Related: AI data centers are facing growing political backlash, data shows

“This is the underlying greed that has driven this wasteful, reckless and destructive era — the belief that there will be another OpenAI and, as I’ve said, the chance to become the next OpenAI’s landlord,” Zitron said. “And like any great investment bubble, the more money that piled in, the greater the fear of missing out, the more dollars that can be justified in turn, and the more complex and deranged the mythology becomes.”

But even those hyperscalers, with their seemingly unlimited war chests, have run into opposition that has slowed their plans.

Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have each canceled large-scale projects after seeing sustained pushback in Arizona, Wisconsin and Indiana, respectively, in the past year.

Residents are worried about data center energy use increasing their own energy bills, noise levels that disrupt their way of life, the environmental impact and security risks.

Heatmap noted that Susan Li, Meta’s chief financial officer, referenced the changing attitudes about data centers during the company’s recent earnings call, describing the AI infrastructure building environment as “dynamic and uncertain.”

SpaceX isn’t done making history. Sept. 9 marked another important date for SpaceX shareholders, due to its unique share-unlock structure.

The catalyst? Equity issuance. We’ll get to that in a moment.SpaceX has given investors plenty to argue about since its June 12 IPO. The stock surged to $225.64 before losing half its value, ran into a growing lockup overhang, and somehow even fell after delivering its first earnings beat. Lately, it has looked like the shorts have had more to say than the buyers.

Beginning Sept. 7, though, we looked at SpaceX from a different angle, based on a research note shared with TheStreet.

For the first time, this firm has laid out a detailed, analytically bullish case for the stock. They decided to ignore the short-term focus and edge toward the longer-term focus of what SpaceX could look like once the post-IPO noise settles. 

Pivotal Research Group initiated coverage of Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX) with a Buy rating and a year-end 2027 price target of $220, according to the note. 

The stock trades around $146, meaning Pivotal’s target implies approximately 50% upside over roughly 15 months.

Who was the catch? Pivotal’s analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak ranked 3,359th out of 12,514 Wall Street analysts on TipRanks with a 51% success rate. Not really a top-tier call by credentials, but the analysis itself is still worth reading carefully.

ALSO READ: SpaceX Latest News and Stories 

The single SpaceX variable Pivotal’s entire thesis depends on

I see Pivotal’s investment case as simple in what it is betting on. Everything, from the valuation to the revenue projections and the long-term cash flows, rests on just one engineering milestone: Starship completing 20 to 50 flights per vehicle with inexpensive refurbishment and rapid turnaround, according to the note. Just that.

If SpaceX achieves that reusability target, Pivotal estimates launch costs could fall by more than 90%.

That would change the economics of nearly everything SpaceX does: expanding Starlink more cheaply, making orbital AI infrastructure viable, and transforming the company’s cost structure from one of the most capital-intensive in technology to one of the most cost-efficient delivery mechanisms ever built.

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If Starship does not achieve that reusability target on schedule, the $220 target evaporates. Pivotal assigns a 20% probability to a bearish scenario worth $75 per share. That’s around 50% below current levels, telling us everything about the binary nature of this investment.

In the most recent first-ever public earnings report, we see meaningful progress in SpaceX’s Q2 2026 flight tests. 

Flight 12 completed Starship V3’s first suborbital mission with a precision landing of the upper stage, according to SpaceX’s Q2 earnings report.

Flight 13 achieved all objectives, deployed 20 production V3 satellites, demonstrated an in-space Raptor engine relight, and executed a soft splashdown with an intact heatshield, according to the same Q2 report. At least there’s a footing Pivotal Research is basing its argument on.

The revenue projections and the capital required to get there

The firm projects revenue rising from $46.6 billion in 2026 to $118.2 billion in 2027. Adjusted EBITDA is forecast to more than double, rising from $ 11.2-$ 22.3 billion over the same period.

Starship-powered launches are expected to grow from approximately 110 in 2027 to more than 3,200 by 2035. Cargo delivered to orbit is projected to climb from 2,360 metric tons in 2026 to more than 500,000 metric tons by 2035.

Related: SpaceX is now in your 401(k), and Musk is the risk

On Starlink, Pivotal forecasts 170 million self-service connectivity customers by 2037. 

Subscribers reached 12 million as of June 30, 2026, doubling year over year (YoY), with enterprise and government revenue growing 108% YoY to $1.806 billion in Q2 alone, according to SpaceX‘s earnings release. That enterprise trajectory is the most immediate near-term validation of the connectivity thesis.

AI infrastructure is projected to expand from 2.2 gigawatts of compute in 2026 to 110 gigawatts by 2035, with roughly 80% of that capacity eventually operating in space.

And the capital required? Huge. Pivotal estimates SpaceX may need approximately $1 trillion over the next decade, including $75 billion in the second half of 2027 and roughly $125 billion annually through 2032.

Pause a little. I see a little problem. Equity issuance at depressed prices presents a severe dilution risk. And the negative free cash flow problem makes this a long-duration bet dependent on loyal, sustained investor patience.

SpaceX’s Flight 13 achieved all objectives, deployed 20 production V3 satellites, demonstrated an in-space Raptor engine relight, and executed a soft splashdown with an intact heatshield.Evan El-Amin Via Shutterstock

The SpaceX lockup timing and where analysts stand

SpaceX faces another insider lockup expiry on Sept. 9, of approximately 319 million additional shares, The Motley Fool reported. 

The prior August lockup released more than 1.2 billion shares without a major sell-off, and the stock subsequently rallied approximately 35%, helped by the earnings beat.

If you look at the individual tranches from August, they broke down into two massive waves:

Aug. 6 (big wave): The very first lockup expiration freed 911.5 million shares (valued at over $100 billion at the time) into the market.

Aug. 20 (second tranche): A second, smaller staggered lockup lifted trading restrictions on an additional 319 million shares.

The analyst community is broadly bullish, too. 

Raymond James sits at the high end with an $800 Strong Buy target.

Morgan Stanley holds an Overweight at $300.

Deutsche Bank and Bank of America are both at $235. 

Pivotal’s new $220 joins JPMorgan‘s $240. 

On the cautious end, HSBC holds at $115, and Phillip Securities has a Sell with a $75 target.

That spread is wide, from $75 to $800. That’s how the distribution of outcomes actually is for SpaceX. Pivotal holds a 65%/20%/15% probability distribution across base/bear/bull scenarios. 

At $146 with the next lockup here, SPCX investors are watching whether supply absorption continues to hold, and whether Starship’s next test flight delivers the reusability data that either validates or challenges Pivotal’s entire thesis.

Related: Scott Galloway issues grim SpaceX stock price forecast

Regional supermarket chains used to dominate grocery sales because they were close to where customers lived.

When I first got my own apartment on Long Island, back in the late 1990s, I shopped at the ShopRite that was on my way home from work. If I was home and needed groceries, I went to the smaller, locally-owned chain that was closest to my house.

The internet was not an option because it mostly didn’t exist yet, and delivery was limited to pizza. You couldn’t get groceries delivered, as DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart, and the various services that bring groceries to your house in as little as an hour, weren’t even ideas on a notepad yet.

Now, when I need groceries, I can drive to the Publix that’s basically across the street, hit the Aldi that’s a little farther away, or drive a few miles to Whole Foods. If, however, I don’t feel like leaving the house, I can order from any of the services mentioned above or from Walmart, Amazon, or Target directly.

Technology has changed the grocery business, Food Industry Association (FMI) Vice President Doug Baker wrote.

“At FMI, I’ve had a front-row seat to how technology is reshaping our industry. Not with big fanfare, but with practical tools that are helping retailers and suppliers work smarter, faster, and more collaboratively. We’re no longer talking about tech as a back-office tool. It’s now central to growth, resilience, and shopper loyalty,” he shared.

It’s a brave new world, and now Kroger and Albertsons are making moves that put technology at the center of grocery.

Kroger and Albertsons make key tech hires

FMI, according to Baker, has a clear focus in helping the industry make changes.

“Our focus is on accelerating transformation across the supply chain, because real-time data, automation, and AI aren’t optional; they’re the new baseline for success. Here’s where I’m seeing technology make the biggest difference,” he added.

Now, both Kroger and Albertsons have made C-suite hires designed to give them an in-house technology leader. Albertsons arguably scored the bigger hire.

Albertsons Companies, Inc. has named Meg Whitman to the newly created role of executive chair of the company’s Board of Directors, according to a press release.

Whitman has been building and reimagining companies for more than 40 years. She served as president and chief executive officer of eBay, Inc. from 1998 to 2008, as the company grew from $30 million to more than $8 billion in annual revenue and defined personal e-commerce.

From 2011 to 2018, Whitman led Hewlett-Packard and transformed the company’s performance in computing and information technology services.

In addition to leading the Albertsons Cos. board, Whitman will serve as an operations and strategic advisor to CEO Susan Morris and her senior team.

Whitman’s experience will be particularly relevant as Morris continues to streamline the operating structure around AI technologies and a more consistent customer experience across stores and digital channels.

Kroger, however, also landed a big name, albeit one that has operated a little more behind the scenes.

The Kroger Co. has hired former Walmart technology leader Mark Ibbotson, who will join the company as executive vice president and chief store operations officer, effective September 14.

Ibbotson began his retail career in the United Kingdom, including roles at Sainsbury’s before joining Asda in 2004 and eventually became its COO. In that role, Ibbotson oversaw the performance of hundreds of stores, drove meaningful improvements in efficiency and cost, expanded the company’s e-commerce capabilities, and introduced pickup and drive-through, according to a press release.

In 2015, Ibbotson joined Walmart U.S. as senior vice president of innovation, with a mandate to simplify store operations and introduce new technologies to improve the customer experience and associate productivity.

At Walmart, his portfolio encompassed store operations, real estate, asset protection and key elements of Walmart’s digital transformation, including the architecture and launch of the grocery eCommerce business.

During his tenure, Ibbotson helped lead the rollout of the company’s e-commerce platform, including pickup and delivery services that became a cornerstone of Walmart’s omnichannel strategy.

Consumers have the option of not going to a physical grocery store. Shutterstock

Traditional grocery chains need to adapt to changing tech

Thomas Paulson, head of market insights at Advan Research, shared comments on Kroger’s business in advance of its Sept. 11 earnings report.

“We also focus on mid-week trips vs. the total, because if Kroger’s convenience attributes begin to have less hold on households, watch out below. Moreover, this is the purchase occasion that Amazon same-day perishables, Walmart delivery, Costco delivery, etc. are after. On this front, there was slippage, with the mid-week visit trend softer than the total-week trend,” he wrote.

That’s a legitimate fear, as data from McKinsey’s The State of Grocery North America 2026 show a fractured consumer.

“Competition is becoming more mission-based. Consumers are no longer shopping one way for all needs but splitting trips across value stock-ups, fresh and prepared-food occasions, convenience-led delivery, wellness-driven baskets, and fill-in missions,” the study showed.

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Regional brands, however, still have some advantages.

“National players continue to benefit from scale, value, innovation, and digital capabilities, while regional players remain powerful where they have distinctive fresh, prepared, and in-store propositions,” McKinsey added.

The research firm sees technology as the foundation for chains like Kroger and Albertsons retaining, or growing, their market share.

“AI has the potential to fundamentally reshape how consumers shop and how grocers operate. While only select use cases are delivering value, the technology has rapidly moved up the agenda for grocers as a potential operating system capable of increasingly connecting customer demand, inventory, labor, fulfillment, and store execution into one integrated system,” the report shared.

ALSO READ: Women’s retailer closed 450 stores, heads to final liquidation

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This shed features a metal roof that allows rain to slide right off and eaves that keep the rain from sliding down the sides of the shed and pooling up at the base, which keeps your items safe from the rain. The vented panels on the side walls prevent moisture from building up, preventing your items from rusting or being damaged. The side of the shed has a small window, letting in light to make it easier to see during the day, and features reinforced steel corners for durability. 

Related: Walmart is selling a ‘sturdy’ metal storage shed for $105 that’s easy to assemble

The sides and roof are made of durable powder-coated steel, with double-hinged doors that make it easy to fit larger items, such as a lawn mower or even a work table, and allow light in to make it easy to find what you need. The shed measures 48 inches deep, 95 inches wide, and 75 inches tall, offering space for shelving units and other organizational items, and the gray metal looks clean in any setting. 

Details to know

Size: This shed measures 48 inches deep, 95 inches wide, and 75 inches tall. 

Weatherproof: This shed is waterproof, sunproof, and snowproof. 

Features: The double doors make it easy to pull items out and store larger items, and the lockable door keeps your items safe. 

One reviewer wrote, “I have had it up for a couple of months now, and I am impressed with its water resistance and its sturdiness.”“I got this little shed to store small yard supplies,” wrote another shopper. “I had limited space for a shed, and this little shed is perfect. It was easy to put together by two people. It seems very sturdy. It has so far stood up to some strong winds that have taken limbs down. Water runs off the roof, even in hard rains. It stays dry inside with good ventilation.”

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The Comhoma Outdoor Storage Shed is a perfect option for keeping your outdoor space clean and tidying up your larger tools and gear. The double doors offer a spacious entry point, and the weather-resistant design keeps all your items safe for just $150.

A major luxury retailer has closed more than a dozen stores this year and warns that additional closures could follow as it reshapes its global retail network.

The company is taking a more selective approach to its physical footprint, focusing investment on its strongest-performing brands and markets while reassessing locations that are not delivering the same returns.

Founded in 1910 in Italy, the Ermenegildo Zegna Group is a global luxury fashion company whose portfolio includes Zegna, Thom Browne, and Tom Ford.

Zegna Group closes 14 stores worldwide

Zegna Group closed 14 stores during the first half of fiscal 2026, bringing its global store count to 657, according to the company’s earnings report.

Most of the closures occurred in EMEA and Greater China, while the Americas accounted for the majority of new store openings.

The company is reassessing its Greater China retail presence in particular, where it plans to operate fewer, more profitable locations while continuing to invest in stores that it believes have stronger growth potential.

During the company’s latest earnings call, Zegna Group CEO Gianluca Tagliabue said the company expects to close additional locations as it continues to optimize its network.

Tagliabue indicated that the closures are part of a broader optimization effort rather than simply a response to expiring leases.

“We are going to close, and that’s not only this year, but we will take more because we are not closing just for the anticipating the closure by the lease,” said Tagliabue.

He said these shutdowns will allow the company to redirect investment toward its remaining stores and operations, and pointed to China as an important market for the group, noting that the company believes its strategy is helping it gain market share.

Why Zegna is closing stores

The store closures are part of a broader effort to reshape Zegna Group’s retail and wholesale networks globally.

The company is reducing select wholesale locations while increasing its focus on directly operated stores. The strategy gives the group greater control over how its brands are presented and can help protect pricing and brand positioning.

Thom Browne, in particular, is moving away from a wholesale-driven model toward a more retail-oriented approach.

Tagliabue said the transition is taking place in several phases and will require time, creating some temporary pressure on the company’s results.

“We are completing the reduction and upgrading of the wholesale network, and to be honest, the process has been taking longer than initially anticipated, partially due to a challenging macroeconomic environment,” said Tagliabue.

At the same time, Zegna Group continues to invest in physical retail, with plans to open flagship stores in key markets for the remainder of the year.

That approach underscores that the company is not abandoning brick-and-mortar retail. Instead, it is concentrating its investment on locations and markets that it considers strategically important.

Zegna Group closes 14 stores.Bloomberg / Getty Images

Zegna Group’s fiscal 2026 results

During the first half of fiscal 2026, Zegna reported:

Revenue: Increased 6.4% year over year

Direct-to-Consumer revenue: Climbed 12.1%

Wholesale revenue: Declined 14.6%

The Americas and Greater China delivered the strongest regional growth. Revenue in the Americas increased 15.1%, while revenue in Greater China rose 5.8%.

By brand, revenue for Zegna climbed 11.9%, while Tom Ford was up 6.4%. Thom Browne revenue declined 0.3%.

Fashion rivals close stores

Zegna Group is not alone in reassessing its physical retail footprint. Several major fashion and luxury companies have closed stores or announced additional shutdowns as they adjust their businesses to changing consumer demand and shifting market conditions.

For many of these companies, the strategy is not simply about reducing store counts but reallocating investment toward stronger brands, markets, and locations.

Here’s some of my previous coverage of recent store closures:

Capri Holdings: Closed 41 locations across its brands in the year ending June 27, 2026.

Prada Group: Closed 10 Versace stores since the end of 2025 and plans to shutter more locations while relocating select boutiques to stronger markets in 2026 and 2027.

Kering: Closed 133 locations across its brands in 2025, with an additional 100 store shutdowns scheduled worldwide in 2026.

Ferragamo: Closing roughly 70 stores between 2025 and 2026.

Burberry: Closed 21 locations during fiscal 2026.

Tapestry: Closed 64 directly operated stores during fiscal 2026.

The trend does not necessarily signal that retailers are abandoning physical stores altogether. Instead, companies are becoming more selective about where they operate and how they allocate capital.

Stronger-performing brands and markets can continue to receive investment, while underperforming locations may be closed, relocated, or replaced.

Related: Nearly 200-year-old retailer exits an entire market

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Why we love this deal

Between work trips and a peak holiday travel season that will be here before we know it, now is the time to get your go-to travel accessories in order. Whether your carry-on is in need of an upgrade, or you could use some packing cubes to get your suitcase more organized, there are plenty of deals that can make it happen, even if you’re on a budget.

Walmart is full of hidden travel accessories, many of which come in multipiece sets. The Ktaxon 11-Piece Softside Luggage Set with Packing Cubes is one of them, and it’s on sale for only $94. With a limited-time Flash deal, you can get the $136 set for 31% off. Considering a carry-on alone can cost as much as the entire set, it’s a deal worth checking out.

Ktaxon 11-Piece Softside Luggage Set with Packing Cubes, $94 (was $136) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

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Why do shoppers love it?

With 11 pieces, you get a ton of value for under $100. The set comes with both luggage and packing accessories that make traveling so much easier. For softside luggage, you get a 20-inch carry-on, a 24-inch medium checked suitcase, and a 28-inch large checked suitcase. The carry-on is great for a weekend getaway, and the medium and large suitcases are fantastic for longer trips. Each one comes with 360-degree spinner wheels, a TSA-approved lock, and a telescoping handle. They are made of lightweight yet durable material, crafted from 1680D Oxford material on the outside and 210D nylon lining.

In addition to luggage, you get eight packing accessories that you can use with any of the carry-on or checked suitcases. There are four packing cubes that you can use for organizing clothing, from sweaters to underwear. You also get a hanging toiletry bag that can save you hotel bathroom counter space, along with an accessories pouch, a laundry bag, and a shoe bag. It’s an impressive amount of travel accessories in just one set, preparing you for a busy travel season ahead.

The luggage set comes in a variety of colors and combinations. Choose between Peacock Blue, black, blue, green, purple, and red color options, as well as a set that includes a weekender bag in addition to the luggage and packing accessories.

Related: Amazon’s $40 solar power bank makes wall outlets obsolete for phone charging

Details to know

Colors: Peacock Blue, black, blue, green, purple, and red.

Luggage sizes: 20 inches, 24 inches, and 28 inches.

Accessories included: Four packing cubes for clothes and undergarments, a toiletry bag, an accessories pouch, a laundry bag, and a shoe bag.

Walmart shoppers said they love the luggage set, saying it’s “heavy duty” and “worth the money.” They also highlighted the convenience of the combination lock for extra security.

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The Ktaxon 11-Piece Softside Luggage Set with Packing Cubes is on sale for just $94, but since it’s a limited-time Flash deal, it won’t last for long.

Wall Street spent the first half of 2026 souring on Lockheed Martin (LMT), the Pentagon’s largest supplier, watching its stock slide as its order book kept swelling.

Fixed-price contracts and production delays had eaten into profits before, and investors bet they would again. On Tuesday, Sept. 8, UBS said that bet is about to go wrong.

Defense stocks rallied broadly at the start of the year as military spending plans rose and geopolitical tensions stayed elevated, Bloomberg reported, and Lockheed climbed to an all-time high near $692 in March. That made the reversal that followed even sharper for investors who had just piled in.

Lockheed posted first-quarter profit of $6.44 a share in April, badly missing estimates as cost overruns on the F-16 and C-130 programs squeezed margins, according to Reuters. The stock fell as much as 23% from its all-time high that month, The Motley Fool noted.

The story flipped in July. Lockheed’s second-quarter results beat Wall Street on revenue, earnings and cash flow, and the order backlog jumped to a record $230 billion, according to a Lockheed Martin press release. UBS now argues that investors still have not caught up to that shift.

The missile backlog Wall Street kept discounting

UBS upgraded Lockheed to Buy from Neutral this week and raised its price target to $674 from $581, implying about 26% upside from the stock’s Sept. 4 closing price of $524.48, according to Investing.com. Analyst Gavin Parsons expects revenue to grow at an annual rate near 9% through 2028, led by missiles.

That call rests heavily on two contracts most investors have not priced in. Lockheed’s missile business is working through a seven-year framework worth up to $35 billion for THAAD interceptors, plus a separate PAC-3 agreement that grew to roughly $59 billion this summer, according to Breaking Defense.

Related: U.S. defense contractor files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Those deals matter because they are production contracts backed by a firm government demand signal, not the fixed-price development work that hurt Lockheed’s aeronautics unit in April.

Development programs carry engineering risk that can blow through cost estimates, while multiyear production orders mostly require scaling factories that work.

UBS is betting that the market still prices missile output as a riskier contract rather than a steadier one, and that distinction is the real basis for the upgrade.

UBS upgraded Lockheed Martin to Buy on Sept. 8, raising its price target to $674 and citing surging missile production demand through 2028.VanderWolf-Images / Getty Images

UBS’s math bets on a widening earnings gap

UBS projects 2028 adjusted earnings of $39.34 a share, 12% above Wall Street consensus, according to Seeking Alpha.

It values Lockheed at roughly 11.8 times next-12-month EBITDA, a 15% discount to the S&P 500, the report said. UBS argues that this gap should narrow as the missile ramp shows up in results.

Free cash flow is expected to climb from $6.9 billion in 2025 to about $9.6 billion by 2030, even with a pension-related dip in 2027, the same note said.

The bank’s scenario range shows how much it rides on execution. A stronger outcome could push shares toward $870, while a weaker one implies a fair value near $452, according to Seeking Alpha.

A 52-week range of $437 to $692 shows how far the stock has moved this year; shares traded at $536.15 on Wednesday, Sept. 9, according to Investing.com.

A 23-year streak of consecutive dividend increases stands behind the stock, based on InvestingPro data cited by Investing.com.

F-35 related work made up about 27% of Lockheed’s 2025 revenue, a segment growing slower than missiles, according to Jefferies.

Wall Street remains split on the stock

UBS’s optimism is not shared across the Street. LSEG data show that 13 of the 24 analysts covering Lockheed rate it a Hold, while only 10 assign Buy or Strong Buy ratings, according to CNBC.

Jefferies reiterated its Hold rating the same day UBS upgraded, keeping a $595 price target, according to Investing.com. The gap between the two banks looking at the same missile ramp shows how unresolved the fixed-price question still is for skeptics.

More Defense:

Two defense stocks just got a multiyear vote of confidence

Why Rocket Lab is becoming a bigger defense player

The winners in China’s missile leap

The real test facing every defense stock

Lockheed’s whiplash year is a test case for the whole defense industry. Analysts warned in late 2025 that record backlogs would keep colliding with fixed-price losses at Boeing, RTX and Lockheed alike, according to the Motley Fool, and Lockheed’s April results looked like proof.

UBS’s bet is that Pentagon production contracts such as THAAD and PAC-3 behave differently than the legacy programs that caused those losses.

If Lockheed converts its backlog into cash as UBS expects, it becomes the template other defense primes are judged against. If it does not, the case for re-rating the whole sector gets harder to make.

Investors will get an early read when Lockheed reports third-quarter results in October.

UBS itself flagged what could derail the thesis first, including congressional budget delays and fresh cost overruns on the fixed-price programs still sitting in Lockheed’s portfolio, according to Seeking Alpha.

Related: Two defense stocks just got a multiyear vote of confidence