DoorDash Buys Into Wonder's Grubhub Campus Business, Meta Lab Doubles Its Store Count & Target Hires a New CMO

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. They'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 16th, 2026. And this morning, we've got news on Meta Lab store expansion and Target's newest marketing hire. But we begin today with a new wrinkle in the Mark Laurie saga. DoorDash is acquiring Wonders Grubhub Campus Dining Business, the college meal ordering platform formerly known as Topingo, as part of a $125 million investment in Wonders Series D round. That's on top of the $650 million Wonders closed back in July. Grubhub Campus Dining is live at more than 450 colleges and universities, and DoorDash says once the deal closes, expected sometime in the first half of 2027, that it plans to expand the concept beyond campuses into stadiums and hotels. In a statement, Mark Lurie said the partnership lets Wonder keep investing in, quote, the technology, robotics, and infrastructure, end quote, its mission requires. DoorDash CEO Tony Zhu framed it in his own statement as growing and empowering local economies. Longtime listeners know I've been skeptical of Wunder's stacking acquisitions on acquisitions strategy, and this doesn't change my mind much. The company has reportedly more than quadrupled its footprint since the start of 2025 and is now eyeing Texas next year. Selling off a piece of the business to fund that growth is one way to keep the story going. Whether it's the right way is still very much an open question to me, regardless of how many enticing robotic bowl making videos and 2040 QSR of the future videos Mark Laurie is rampantly posting on LinkedIn.

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All right, we are back and our next story is about Meta's brick and mortar push for its AI glasses business. The company's Meta Lab concept is nearly doubling its store count, adding six new standalone locations in the coming months, starting with Houston, which opened last week, plus stops in Atlanta, San Diego, Chicago, Scottsdale, and New York's Moynihan Station. That takes the fleet from eight stores to 14. Meta is also leaning on Best Buy,