Walmart's gangbusters year, Starbucks' parental leave, and Taco Bell's new thing: Retail news roundup

Updated December 20, 2024

Walmart has had an , with shares up over 80% in 2024, boosting its market value to $768 billion and making it a top performer on the S&P 500 Consumer Staples Index. Starbucks will offer for birth parents and 12 weeks for non-birth parents, with a 20-hour week minimum to qualify.The coffee chain has also hired its ever chief growth officer to help it fix its . Meanwhile, Taco Bell has launched a limited-time offer of .Check out those stories and more retail news highlights from this week.

Walmart $WMT (WMT) has delivered an exceptional year that has transformed its market position. The retailer’s shares surged more than 80% in 2024, pushing its market value to $768 billion after adding $340 billion in market capitalization. The retail giant’s exceptional performance has been driven by its success in attracting wealthier shoppers and growth in advertising and marketing revenue, allowing it to emerge as one of the top performers on the S&P 500 Consumer Staples Index.

Starbucks $SBUX (SBUX) is expanding its parental leave benefits in hopes of keeping its in-store employees around.

Taco Bell (YUM) wants to compete with fast food giants like McDonald’s (MCD) and Wendy’s (WEN) with a new menu item: Chicken nuggets.

U.S. consumer spending remained strong in November, signaling that the economy is still moving forward despite ongoing inflation concerns.

McDonald’s is hoping a new prototype store will help it stay ahead of the competition.

In 2024, Amazon $AMZN’s (AMZN) top-selling products were heavily influenced by social media, with certain categories standing out thanks to platforms like TikTok.

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday may be behind us, but Christmas is just around the corner – and there’s still time to find the perfect last-minute gift.

Casual dining isn’t dead.

Starbucks $SBUX (SBUX) is doubling down on a new strategy to reclaim its footing in China, its second-biggest international market.