Inflation hits McDonald's, IHOP and Applebee's, Target's new thing, and Aldi cuts prices: Retail news roundup

Applebee’s and IHOP owner Dine Brands Global Inc. said sales fell because consumers are staying away from higher priced items. That’s “another indicator that guests are managing their wallet,” John Peyton, Dine Brands’ CEO, told investors during the company’s earnings call.

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Discount grocer Aldi wants to give consumers a break from sticky inflation – at least for a little while. The company is cutting prices on more than 250 items, it said earlier this month, in a summer sale that is expected to run through Labor Day.

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Consumers didn’t just have love on the brain on Valentine’s Day. They also appeared to be pop-eyed for Krispy Kreme’s heart-shaped doughnuts, which gave the doughnut maker its best sales day ever during its first quarter.

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The inflation economy has come for Big Food and its ricochet is impacting consumers most. “There’s definitely some belt tightening,” Jerry Sheldon, vice president of the market research firm IHL Group, said of inflation-weary customers. “What consumers are saying is ‘woah, wait a minute.’”

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Starbucks is having a tough time reaching consumers all over the world. In China, it’s ambitious expansion plans are lagging and its chalking that up to domestic competition and waning consumer demand.

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Plant-based company Beyond Meat is struggling to reach even the healthiest of consumers — and it needs to raise cash quickly. The plant-based burger maker beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations but warned that consumer demand could further weaken.

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California could be the case study that changes how retailers use self-checkout nationwide. Senate Bill 1446, introduced by Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas earlier this year, would require that at least one employee is available to monitor two self-checkout stations.

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Panera Bread’s Charged Lemonade will soon be obsolete. Panera’s removal of the beverage may be in part due to numerous lawsuits the company has had to deal with in recent months, some of which allege the caffeinated drink led to deaths.

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Grocery technology company Instacart thinks it can help Uber Eats expand its restaurant business. The partnership will be launched in the coming weeks, and will give Instacart customers nationwide the ability to use Instacart’s app to order from “hundreds of thousands of restaurants, powered by Uber Eats.”

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E-commerce platform Shopify is expecting sales to slow down in the coming quarter, despite a double-digit increase during its first quarter. It warned that the sale of its logistics business would impact second quarter revenue.

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Target wants to grow its wholesale business footprint by expanding on the private label Cat & Jack. It’s exploring similar arrangements in other markets, including Europe and the Americas.

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Tyson Foods wants to meet consumers where they are, but stubborn inflation may continue to pose a challenge for the largest meat company in the U.S. The company is “not immune to the macroeconomic environment,” said CEO Donnie D. King during the company’s earnings call on Monday.

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Rite Aid will soon be much smaller as it works through a bankruptcy exit strategy with lenders. Thus far, the pharmacy chain has closed over 60 New York stores, 101 in California, and 103 in Pennsylvania, according to Bloomberg.

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The cocoa crisis doesn’t appear to be keeping Hershey from “sharing goodness,” nor raising its prices. Even with inflation keeping customers weary of spending on everything from fast food to clothing, the company is still seeing a demand for its chocolates and candy.

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