Retail Daily Minute | Walmart Launches a Style Unit, Costco Keeps Taking Share & Hy-Vee Targets 5-Minute Online Shopping

Hello, everyone. This is OmniTalk Retail. I'm Chris Walton, and you are listening to the Retail Daily Minute, your quickest, fastest breakdown of all the day's top retail news. Today's podcast is brought to you once again with the help and support of R&S Logistics. Are you looking for a fulfillment and distribution partner? That's just right. Well, RNS Logistics is small enough to provide custom solutions and that personal touch, while also still boasting 2 million square feet across 10 locations in the Southeast. With technology that can scale your growing e-commerce operations, visit rswarehousingsolutions.com and get your quote today. And I'm also pleased to introduce Zenline AI because you have likely heard about AI agents a thousand times this year. We're also probably wondering what they can do for you as a retailer. Visit tryzenline.ai to book a call and see how agents can bring you more margin. Hello from Nashville and Shop Talk Fall. Today is September 29th, 2026. And these boots were made for bringing you the retail business because today we've got news on Costco's continued share grab and Hy-Vee's plan to shrink online grocery shopping down to five minutes or less. But we begin today with Walmart shaking up its merchant organization once again. According to Retail Dive, which obtained an internal memo from chief merchant Julie Barber, Walmart has created a new style strategic business unit that combines its fashion, home, and beauty businesses under one roof. Denise Incandela, who joined Walmart nearly a decade ago from Aerosols and most recently served as executive vice president of fashion for Walmart U.S., will lead the new unit. The reshuffle is sweeping. Beauty merchandising moves over from consumables. Home product development folds into a style private brands organization. And per the memo, even the team overseeing entertainment, toys, seasonal, and hard lines is also moving into the unit. Walmart will also be hiring a new senior vice president of fashion merchandising. In Barber's words, quote, winning in style requires us to operate differently, end quote. Now, if you've been around retail long enough, this story may feel a little familiar. Nearly 20 years ago, Walmart launched Project Impact, a fashion-forward merchandising overhaul it eventually abandoned. It then went on an acquisition spree of digitally native brands like Bonobos and Moose Jaw, only to sell them off later. Style has been the white whale in a matter of speaking that Walmart just keeps chasing. So what's different this time? Well, in my opinion, there are three things. First, the e-commerce first framing of the early Incandela era is gone. This is all about the full assortment in-store and online. Second, fashion, home, and beauty are exactly the categories where, as someone who spent years at Target, I can tell you Target has long held the edge over Walmart. This move is clearly aimed squarely at that gap. And three, let's not forget three, in Cadela's track record because it is pretty darn good. That said, an org chart does not make a trend. Walmart's challenge has never really been a lack of structure. It's been convincing shoppers and the brands it