Kohl's Doubles Down on Babies R Us as Sephora Falters, Walmart+ Adds CITGO & Harps Names First AI Director

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. Today is September 15th, 2026, and this morning we've got news on Citgo joining Walmart's Fuel Savings Network and Harps, naming its first ever director of AI. But we begin today with a telling reshuffle at Kohl's. The department store is expanding its Babies R Us shop and shops to 56 more locations this month, bringing the total footprint well beyond the roughly 200 stores where the partnership launched back in 2024. Kohl's is also rolling out an exclusive collection of bibs, blankets, and crib sheets, adding Millie Moon diapers, Hallmark gift sets, and seasonal stroller toys and books. Plus, according to Retail Dive, more gifting options under $25 chain-wide this fall. This expansion is also landing at the same time Sephora at Kohl's, long the retailer's go-to traffic driver is stumbling. Sales in those shops were down 4% in the second quarter after already slipping in Q1. And per Fitch Ratings Research, Sephora has been contributing something like 10% of Kohl's total revenue. That's not a small dependency to have wobble. Overall, store traffic is still soft too. Placer AI has Kohl's visits down 7.7% in Q1 and 1.4% in Q2. those same store visits did tick up in june and july the first back-to-back monthly gain in about two years so credit where it's due for sure the bleeding is clearly slowing but leaning harder into babies are rust right as your marquee beauty concession cools it looks less like a bold new bet and more like hedging kohl's needs more than one horse in this race and it's smart to be diversifying its shop and shop portfolio i just wouldn't call this a sign of strength so much as a sign kohl's knows it can't count on sephora alone anymore

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All right, we are back, and our next story is a fairly straightforward value add from Walmart. Walmart Plus is adding Citgo to its gas savings benefit, expanding the eligible network from around 13,000 stations to more than 17,000 nationwide, a roughly 30% jump in coverage.