Retail & Consumer Goods

Drums, Pa. – October 14, 2026 -- Best Cigar Prices (BCP), an online premium cigar retailer, has appointed John Greeby as Vice President of Merchandising, effective October 2026. He brings 15 years of merchandising, promotions and business leadership experience from the nation's largest business-to-consumer cigar company.

Greeby spent nearly 11 years in leadership roles at the largest U.S. B2C cigar company

In those roles, Greeby managed teams and business units. His stated expertise covers merchandising strategy, vendor negotiations, inventory management, sales growth and margin optimization.

His earlier project work included website user experience improvements, product assortment and placement, brand development and change management. He also worked on new project development and on ERP and CMS system integrations.

Scottsdale – October 14, 2026 -- Sparkle Grooming Co. will open its Johns Creek salon on Monday, October 19, the first step in a three-unit franchise agreement with local attorney and real estate professional Sean Reaves and the brand's entry into the Atlanta area.

Salon at 10710 State Bridge Road targets Johns Creek and Alpharetta pet owners

The unit is at 10710 State Bridge Road, Unit 140. It will serve dog owners in Johns Creek, Alpharetta and surrounding communities. Sparkle combines salon-style grooming with wellness-focused hygiene, online booking and recurring membership options. The company says the model is meant to make routine care more consistent and accessible.

Bedford – October 14, 2026 -- Blo Blow Dry Bar has signed a three-unit development agreement to enter New Hampshire, with local entrepreneur Marissa Gardner as the brand's sole operator in the state.

Gardner will open locations in Bedford, Nashua and Southern New Hampshire. She is currently securing sites, and addresses have not been announced.

Former beauty procurement executive anchors the New Hampshire rollout

Gardner spent 19 years in global procurement at a leading prestige beauty company in New York, where she held leadership roles across multiple brands. She holds a master's degree in business management. After relocating to New Hampshire with her family, she chose to franchise with Blo, citing its proven success and established support.

Tampa – October 14, 2026 -- HAEVN, a city-by-city matching network, has launched Meetup Spots, a program that charges local businesses $99 per month to be recommended to matched singles deciding where to meet, starting in Tampa, Florida, and Austin, Texas.

HAEVN guarantees 10 recommendations a month or the next month is free

Participating coffee shops, restaurants, bars and activity venues commit for an initial three months. HAEVN guarantees at least 10 recommendations per month; a business that receives fewer gets its next month free. There is no cap on additional recommendations.

HAEVN counts one recommendation as one placement within a Match or Recommendation. Both people in that introduction see the same Meetup Spot.

Las Vegas – October 14, 2026 -- USA Bobsled/Skeleton (USABS) and heated apparel brand ororo have renewed their partnership through the 2029-30 season, extending a four-year relationship by another four years.

ororo remains the Official Heated Apparel Partner of USABS. It will supply the national bobsled and skeleton teams with heated gear for both training and competition.

Renewal targets the 2029 IBSF World Championships in Park City

The deal arrives as USABS enters a new quadrennial that includes the 2029 IBSF World Championships in Park City. The federation is also framing the agreement as the start of its road to 2030.

ororo CEO Mark H. said the company has supported the team through daily life, training and competitions over the past four years. He said the extension covers the team's athletes and coaches through the season.

Burlington, N.J. – October 13, 2026 -- Eighty percent of U.S. adults expect to spend the same amount or more on holiday shopping this year than last, even as 58% of those respondents worry about exceeding their budgets, according to a Wakefield Research survey commissioned by off-price retailer Burlington Stores.

Budget anxiety peaks among parents and Gen Z parents

Concern about overspending rises to 69% among parents and 77% among Gen Z parents. The Gen Z parent subgroup totals 100 respondents, with a margin of error of plus or minus 9.8 percentage points.

Burlington says shoppers plan to stretch budgets through "dupe" products and in-person shopping.

Deal hunting turns a smaller budget into motivation for 58% of Americans

For 58% of respondents, shopping on a smaller holiday budget is exciting because of the hunt for the best deals. Another 87% say getting a great deal is more satisfying than owning a luxury item.

Exton, Pennsylvania – October 13, 2026 -- Hunt Auctions has brokered a private treaty sale of a Michael Jordan 1998 NBA Finals Game Two road jersey for $14,000,000, a world record for any piece of basketball memorabilia and the second-highest price paid for a game-used jersey in any sport.

The price tops the $12,260,000 realized by Jordan's home jersey from Game Three of the same Finals. That jersey sold at auction on October 13, 2026, so the record has moved up by $1,740,000 within roughly two weeks.

Red road jerseys from Games 1, 2 and 6 drive collector demand

Jordan wore his red mesh road jersey in Games 1, 2 and 6 of the 1998 Finals. Only one of those jerseys had previously sold at public auction. Game 6 produced the image of his last shot as a Chicago Bull, which has made the red jerseys the "holy grails" of his Finals pieces.

Fort Lee – October 13, 2026 -- VUSSENS Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of KOSDAQ-listed NEWEN AI, has set up its North American operations in New Jersey and launched its ontology-based AI beauty analytics platform in the U.S. market.

The company chose New Jersey for its proximity to New York, which it describes as a major global hub for international business and consumer goods distribution. It plans to draw on its local partnership network, including connections with New York University (NYU) Stern and the Global AI Frontier Lab in New York.

Platform runs on a language model trained on more than 800 billion tokens

The platform integrates cross-channel data from social media and e-commerce platforms in the U.S. market. A multimodal AI engine analyzes video, audio and subtitles at the same time across short-form content platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. This allows persona analysis by race, age, skin type and consumer values.

Hong Kong – October 12, 2026 -- DPC Dash (1405.HK), Domino's Pizza's exclusive master franchisee in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, operated 1,634 stores across 87 cities at September 30, 2026. It added a net 84 stores and entered 12 cities in the third quarter, while same-store sales growth stayed negative.

DPC Dash has already secured its full-year opening target of about 350 net new stores

Stores opened, under construction or signed now cover 100% of the 2026 target, up from about 89% at June 30. Over the first nine months, the company added 319 net new stores and entered 27 new cities.

The network comprises 908 stores in initial cities and 726 in new cities. New cities account for about 44% of the total, and the company says they continue to drive expansion under its "Go Deeper, Go Broader" strategy.

Suwanee – October 12, 2026 -- Hisense will appoint James Fishler, a consumer electronics executive with more than 30 years of experience, as Chief Commercial Officer effective January 1, 2026, as the company expands its U.S. business.

Fishler brings Samsung, Beats, LG and Sony leadership experience to Hisense

Fishler previously served as chief executive over the TV, audio and memory business at Samsung Electronics America, where he led all sales and marketing across those categories. At Beats Electronics, later acquired by Apple, he oversaw worldwide go-to-market and channel marketing. He has also held leadership positions at LG and Sony Electronics.

His background spans B2C, B2B and D2C segments. According to Hisense, he has built cross-functional teams and retailer and distributor partnerships, and has worked on business planning, channel dynamics and new revenue streams in competitive categories.