Target is set to open eight new stores this fall, bringing its total store openings for 2026 to 32 as the retailer works toward opening more than 300 locations by 2035.
The new stores will open in Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, following the 24 locations Target has already opened this year.
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The openings are part of Target’s $5 billion capital investment plan for 2026, which also includes more than 130 store remodels and additional investment in employee pay and training.
Target plans to open more than 300 new stores by 2035 as it expands its nationwide footprint. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Target said the eight stores are expected to create more than 2,000 jobs, with starting wages ranging from $15 to $24 an hour, along with benefits and tuition-free education assistance.
“Our continued commitment to opening new stores is really about showing up for our guests and our communities — and it starts with our incredible store team members,” Chief Stores Officer Adrienne Costanzo said in a statement.
Seven of the eight new stores will be larger than Target’s average location as the retailer expands its larger-format footprint. (iStock)
The new stores will be located in:
Bridgehampton, New York
Cookeville, Tennessee
Fort Worth Chisholm Trail, Texas
Katy Heritage, Texas
Liberty Hill, Texas
Lima, Ohio
Norfolk Wards Corner, Virginia
Tupelo, Mississippi
Seven of the eight locations will be larger than Target’s average store size of 125,000 square feet as the retailer continues investing in larger-format stores.
Most of the new stores are scheduled to open on Oct. 11, while the Lima, Ohio, location is slated to open on Nov. 8.
“These new stores give our teams the tools and environments to bring our merchandising strengths to life, create easier and more inspiring shopping experiences, and use technology to move smarter and faster every day,” Costanzo added. “It’s how we keep growing thoughtfully, stay connected to our communities and make Target an even better place to work and shop.”
Newell Brands Inc. (NWL) Barclays 19th Annual Global Consumer Staples Conference September 8, 2026 4:30 PM EDT
Company Participants
Christopher Peterson – President, CEO & Director Mark Erceg – Chief Financial Officer
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Conference Call Participants
Lauren Lieberman – Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
Presentation
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Lauren Lieberman Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
Great. So to close out the day, we are pleased to welcome Newell Brands to the stage. Today, we’re joined by Chris Peterson, President and CEO; and Mark Erceg, the company’s CFO. So thank you both for being here again this year.
Christopher Peterson President, CEO & Director
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We’re excited to be here.
Question-and-Answer Session
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Lauren Lieberman Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division
So I’m going to start with some questions around top line. So second quarter marks the first quarter of core sales growth for the company since second quarter of 2022. So for those in the audience that might be less familiar with recent results, can you maybe give us a walk through kind of what drove this long-awaited inflection?
Christopher Peterson President, CEO & Director
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Sure. So 2023, we launched a turnaround strategy. And a big part of that turnaround strategy was capability improvement on the front-end parts of the business that were required to drive sustainable top line growth. So these are things like consumer insights, brand building, new product innovation and go-to-market. What was exciting is since we launched that turnaround in 2023, in ’23, core sales for the company was down 12%. So we clearly needed to do something different.
We improved in ’24 and ’25 sequentially, but we were still down. What’s exciting about last quarter is all of those things came together, and we delivered 2.3% core sales growth. Importantly, within that 2.3% core sales growth, 7 of our top 10 brands grew, 5 of our 6 business units grew and the U.S. led the
The Cardiff-based firm has struck a three year partnership deal with the governing body
16:48, 07 Sep 2026Updated 16:55, 07 Sep 2026
Andrew Kays chief executive of Socura and chief executive of the FAW Noel Mooney
Socura has been appointed the official cybersecurity partner of the Football Association of Wales .
The Cardiff-based firm will protect the critical systems, sensitive data and digital services of the FAW – spanning 822 affiliated clubs, 120,000 playing participants, and hundreds of thousands of fans from grassroots football to the national team.
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It also follows a major digital transformation project at the FAW, which now has a range of digital services that connect players, coaches, referees, clubs and supporters.
Under the three-year partnership, Socura will also work alongside the FAW to raise awareness of cyber resilience through digital content, educational initiatives and collaborative campaigns .
Wales will be a co-host nation of the Euro 28 men’s tournament with games played at the Principality Stadium, including the opening game.
Andrew Kays, chief executive of Socura, said: “Welsh football is entering one of the most exciting chapters in its history. From the continued growth of the women’s game and the evolution of the domestic pyramid to the arrival of UEFA Euro 2028, football in Wales has never had greater momentum.
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“Technology now underpins almost every aspect of the modern game. It connects supporters, enables competitions, supports clubs and helps develop players. Protecting those digital services has become fundamental to the future of football.
“We’re incredibly proud that the FAW has chosen Socura as its official cyber security partner. It’s a partnership between two ambitious Welsh organisations committed to excellence, innovation and representing Wales on the international stage. Together, we’ll help ensure Welsh football can continue to grow with confidence, knowing its digital infrastructure is protected around the clock.”
FAW chief executive, Noel Mooney, said: “Football today depends on technology more than ever before. From supporting grassroots clubs and volunteers to delivering international fixtures and engaging supporters across Wales and beyond, secure digital services are essential to everything we do.
“As we continue investing in the future of Welsh football and expanding our digital capabilities, partnering with Socura strengthens our ability to protect our people, our systems and our data.
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“We’re delighted to be working with another leading Welsh organisation that shares our ambition to deliver excellence and innovation on and off the pitch.”
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will retire at the end of 2026, the league announced on Friday.
The decision comes as the league has experienced unprecedented growth, but Engelbert has faced criticism from some players over her leadership.
A successor has not yet been named.
“In 2019, I had the privilege of being appointed the league’s first commissioner and to lead a league with enormous potential yet untapped awareness and significant undervaluation. Over the years, it has been amazing to watch WNBA players thrive and lead the massive cultural surge around women’s sports,” Engelbert said in a statement.
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During her tenure, the league has seen huge spikes in television viewership, game attendance, corporate sponsorship and franchise valuations. Viewership has jumped roughly 454% and attendance has climbed about 70% since 2019, according to the WNBA.
“Cathy has presided over the WNBA through the most significant period of growth in the league’s 30-year history,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “We are grateful for Cathy’s leadership and unwavering commitment to the advancement of women’s basketball.”
The average WNBA team is now worth $460 million, according to CNBC’s Official WNBA Team valuations for 2026. The Golden State Valkyries, which joined the league in 2025, are the first women’s team in any sport to be valued at $1 billion.
Engelbert oversaw the league’s expansion from 12 to 18 teams by 2030. She also helped negotiate a landmark collective bargaining agreement earlier this year, leading to the biggest pay increases in the WNBA’s history.
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“Being able to have your worth tied mostly in your salary is all that we’ve been fighting for, and it’s what we were able to achieve,” WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike told CNBC Sport in an interview.
Yet Engelbert’s time as commissioner was often overshadowed by her rocky relationship with some players over compensation, officiating issues and her response to racism and online harassment. Many WNBA players have argued the benefits the league offers and its protections for its players have failed to keep pace with the boom in attention on the WNBA.
“We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But, right now, we have the worst leadership in the world,” Minnesota Lynx player Napheesa Collier famously said about Engelbert last year.
Most recently, concerns have grown that Engelbert failed to respond appropriately to political protests over transgender women playing sports, which began to overshadow the league’s season in recent weeks. There are no known trans players in the WNBA.
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In her statement, Engelbert said she is grateful to WNBA and NBA team owners, staff, players, investors and fans who believed in what the league could become.
“I retire knowing we have built something bigger, stronger and more enduring than we could have imagined,” she said. “I retire with immense gratitude and tremendous optimism for the future of the WNBA, with the best yet to come.”
Website performance has become an essential part of digital success. Visitors expect pages to load quickly, navigation to feel smooth, and websites to work properly across mobile and desktop devices. For businesses competing in Toronto’s busy digital market, performance-focused Web Development Toronto services can help create a faster and more effective online experience.
Why Website Performance Deserves Attention
A website may contain excellent content and attractive visuals, but poor performance can undermine both. Visitors are less likely to remain engaged when pages take too long to load or important features fail to respond correctly.
Performance should therefore be considered during development rather than treated as a final technical adjustment. The website’s architecture, code, media files, scripts, and hosting environment can all influence how efficiently pages operate.
A performance-focused approach aims to remove unnecessary friction so visitors can access information quickly and complete important actions with less effort.
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Technical Excellence From an Experienced Web Developer
An experienced web developer can identify technical issues that may negatively affect performance. These can include inefficient code, excessive scripts, oversized images, unnecessary plugins, or poorly implemented third-party integrations.
The development process should also consider responsive behavior. Mobile users may access a website through different network conditions and screen sizes, making efficient implementation particularly important.
Technical optimization is not simply about achieving a high performance score. The real objective is creating an environment where customers can browse, understand services, and take action without unnecessary delays.
Web Design Agency Toronto for Faster User Experiences
Performance and design should never be treated as opposing priorities. A professional Web Design Agency Toronto can create visually engaging layouts while maintaining usability and efficiency.
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Modern design can incorporate high-quality imagery, animations, interactive elements, and strong branding. However, these elements need to be implemented carefully. Heavy assets and unnecessary visual effects can increase page weight and create slower experiences.
Good design focuses on what improves communication and customer interaction. Every visual element should serve a purpose rather than simply occupying space.
SEO Agency Toronto and Technical Performance
Website performance also intersects with search optimization. Search engines evaluate various aspects of page experience, while technical issues can make it harder for important pages to be discovered and understood.
Working with an SEO Agency Toronto can help businesses align technical development with organic search objectives. Proper page architecture, crawlability, mobile usability, internal linking, metadata, and structured content can all be considered during the process.
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This creates a stronger foundation for future SEO campaigns because the website is not fighting against technical limitations.
Performance That Supports Conversions
Speed matters because performance influences the customer journey. A visitor arriving from search results or an advertising campaign should be able to understand the company’s offer and reach the next step without frustration.
Clear calls to action, simplified navigation, optimized landing pages, and efficient forms can contribute to better conversion experiences.
For service businesses, this might mean making phone numbers, enquiry forms, booking options, or service information immediately accessible. For e-commerce companies, it may involve creating a faster product discovery and checkout experience.
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Building a Faster Digital Foundation
Performance-focused development is ultimately about creating a website that works for both users and the business behind it. Speed, usability, responsive design, technical stability, and search readiness should work together rather than being handled separately.
For Toronto businesses looking to compete online, investing in performance-focused development can create a stronger digital foundation. A website that loads efficiently, communicates clearly, and functions reliably is better positioned to attract visitors, retain attention, and turn online traffic into meaningful business opportunities.
U.S. President Donald Trump and CEO of Ford Jim Farley clap, as President Trump visits a Ford production center, in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S., January 13, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
The Trump administration expressed “profound concern” Tuesday about Ford Motor‘s ties to Chinese companies that it believes could be detrimental to the Detroit carmaker and U.S. automotive industry.
In a letter addressed to Ford CEO Jim Farley, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy questioned the automaker’s strategic trajectory with Chinese companies “as it pertains to American national automotive manufacturing integrity, supply chain exposure, and reliance on technologies of foreign adversaries.”
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Ford, which regularly touts its position as the top-producing automaker in the U.S., called the letter a “wrongheaded attempt to capture headlines.”
It also defended its stance as America’s top-producing carmaker and said it employs more hourly workers in the country than any other automaker, while calling out “factual errors” in the letter. Ford said those errors included Duffy’s comments about Farley proposing a joint-venture framework for Chinese automakers to enter the U.S.
The letter is the latest incident in a series of contentious discussions between the U.S. automotive industry and the Trump administration, which has caused uncertainty with its changes to trade and federal rules and regulations.
In the letter, Duffy took issue with Ford’s ties to Chinese companies such as battery provider CATL and a framework Farley proposed during an auto show earlier this year in Detroit “to facilitate Chinese joint ventures on United States soil.”
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Ford has a licensing agreement to utilize battery technologies, including the production of lithium iron phosphate batteries, from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., or CATL.
Ford’s deal with CATL was originally announced in 2023 but has drawn renewed attention amid tensions between the U.S. and China as well as Ford’s plan to use the battery technologies for energy storage systems.
“While DOT recognizes the intense competitive pressures of the global market, the Company’s recent strategic decisions paint a troubling picture of a foundational American brand actively intertwining its future with Chinese state-backed enterprises,” Duffy’s letter read.
Ford CEO Jim Farley at a battery lab for the automaker in suburban Detroit, announcing a new $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in the state to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries, Feb. 13, 2023.
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Michael Wayland/CNBC
Duffy urged Farley, who has been complimentary of Chinese competitors as well as the Trump administration’s attempt to promote U.S. manufacturing, to “reflect on these concerns and national necessities and adopt reasonable strategies that prioritize American workers, utilize allied supply chains, and promote the self-reliance and integrity of the domestic automotive industry.”
Ford urged Duffy to more openly communicate with the company.
“Ford supports the Trump administration’s vision for advancing American innovation and manufacturing,” the company said. “Had Secretary Duffy reached out before issuing his letter to the press, we would have been happy to share more details about Ford’s U.S. commitment.”
Chief strategy officer Rieko Shofu described tariffs as “something out of our control,” telling Bloomberg that the beer giant would “move ahead with local production.”
Sapporo did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment. The company plans to shift production of its non-alcoholic beer, currently made in Canada for US customers, to the US by the first half of 2027.
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The US is one of Sapporo’s most important overseas markets, and any shift south of the border will directly affect operations at its Canadian subsidiary, Sleeman Breweries.
To mitigate rising costs, the Japanese brewer is considering adding production capacity on the US West Coast. Options include building or buying a brewery, or partnering with a third-party manufacturer.
Sapporo has been building its presence in the US for years and says its flagship Sapporo brand is the country’s best-selling Asian beer brand.
The company is also investing heavily outside Japan where a shrinking population has weighed on alcohol sales.
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Sapporo plans to invest up to ¥400bn ($2.6bn) by 2030 as it seeks to expand overseas and boost profits. Around 30% of the capital is earmarked for overseas markets.
The brewer is also looking beyond North America. In July, it announced a partnership with Danish brewer Carlsberg to expand in Southeast Asia.
Sapporo’s decision to move production comes as companies adapt to a growing number of tariffs worldwide.
In July, the US announced new tariffs on dozens of trading partners, including Canada, raising costs for businesses that rely on cross-border supply chains.
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The move highlights how some companies are reconsidering where they make goods as trade barriers increase the cost of serving customers from overseas.
The 13-year-old, who is second in line to the British throne, appeared in good spirits despite gloomy autumn weather as he made his way to the school accompanied by his parents, William and Catherine, Princess of Wales. George had last been seen publicly with the rest of the Wales family at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, last month.
George arrived at the school dressed in a jacket, shirt and tie along with dark trousers, before changing into Eton’s traditional uniform: a black tailcoat, waistcoat and pinstriped trousers, worn with a stiff white collar.
The family crossed School Yard, the historic institution’s central cobblestoned quad, which features a statue of King Henry VI, the school’s founder, at its center, before being greeted by Eton’s principal, Simon Henderson, and its provost, Nicholas Coleridge. The group spoke briefly, with Henderson heard welcoming his newest student directly.
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“Welcome, good luck, enjoy it,” Henderson told George.
Eton College, located in Berkshire just a short distance from Windsor Castle and the Wales family’s home at Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park, educates boys ages 13 to 18 and admits approximately 270 new students each academic year. Students live on campus across the school’s 25 boarding houses, each accommodating roughly 55 students under the supervision of a house master.
George’s arrival follows in a well-established family tradition. William attended Eton beginning in 1995, while Harry started at the school in 1998. Prior to beginning at Eton, George attended Lambrook School, a private preparatory school near Windsor, alongside his younger siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The choice of Eton had remained a subject of public speculation for months leading up to George’s enrollment, given that his mother, Kate Middleton, attended a different prestigious institution, Marlborough College, during her own school years. Royal commentators had previously suggested the Wales family might delay announcing George’s secondary school choice until close to the start of the academic year, a pattern that has held true given how much attention the decision ultimately drew once formally confirmed.
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Eton ranks among Britain’s most famous and prestigious fee-paying schools, boasting a notable list of alumni that extends well beyond the royal family to include 20 of the country’s 59 prime ministers throughout British history. Former Conservative prime ministers Boris Johnson, who led the country from 2019 to 2022, and David Cameron, who served from 2010 to 2016, both attended the school. Other prominent alumni span the worlds of entertainment and the arts, including actors Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston and Eddie Redmayne.
Attending Eton comes with a significant financial commitment. School fees for the current 2025-26 academic year stand at £63,298.80, or approximately $84,900, reflecting the institution’s position among the most expensive independent schools in the United Kingdom.
George’s enrollment at Eton also carries broader symbolic weight given his position within the line of succession to the British throne. As second in line behind his father, William, George’s education has drawn sustained public interest throughout his childhood, with each successive school transition treated as a notable milestone by British media and royal commentators. His father’s own enrollment at Eton in 1995 was similarly treated as a significant news event at the time, reflecting the sustained public fascination with the educational path of a future monarch.
Unlike Marlborough College, which admits both boys and girls, Eton remains a boys-only institution, meaning George’s younger sister, Princess Charlotte, would not have had the option to eventually join him there even had circumstances been different regarding the family’s school choice. Charlotte and Louis remain enrolled at Lambrook School alongside their other classmates, continuing their own education separately from their older brother following George’s transition to Eton.
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The Wales family’s arrival at Eton on Tuesday adds to a broader pattern of family milestones playing out amid a particularly active period for the royal family, coming as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, have recently returned to live in the United Kingdom following several years based primarily in California. Royal commentators have noted that George’s start at Eton arrived at a moment when the Wales family had hoped to keep public attention focused on their son’s milestone rather than competing developments elsewhere within the broader royal family.
George’s educational journey now shifts to a considerably more structured and independent phase of his life compared with his time at Lambrook, given Eton’s residential boarding house system, which requires students to live on campus throughout the school term under the guidance of a dedicated house master, rather than returning home each day as had been the case during his years at the smaller preparatory school near Windsor.
With George now formally enrolled and settling into his new school routine, the coming years at Eton are expected to shape a significant portion of his adolescence, following a well-worn path through one of Britain’s most storied and closely watched educational institutions, one that has already produced a substantial share of the country’s most prominent political, cultural and royal figures across multiple generations.
OpenAI says it has found a solution to a decades-old advanced maths problem in a matter of hours using a new artificial intelligence (AI) model and thousands of AI bots.
The ChatGPT-maker said on Tuesday, external that by focusing a group of roughly 10,000 AI agents, or AI bots that undertake tasks somewhat autonomously, it solved a notoriously difficult maths problem in just 88 hours.
The problem was part of the Navier-Stokes equations, external, which concern how fluids move. For 90 years important aspects of the problems have lacked a proof, the argument underlying a correct math equation.
OpenAI called the solution which it found a “milestone” and evidence that AI tools are improving quickly.
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OpenAI’s solution has yet to be verified independently or publicly accepted by The Clay Mathematics Institute, a maths organization based in the US which runs the Millennium Prize that offers big money to the first to solve certain mathematical conundrums.
The company said that at the end of August, it started to train a new model that quickly showed that it was adept at maths. AI models are computer programs trained on huge amounts of data to recognize and predict patterns in information.
While the new OpenAI model remains a tool only used within the company, as it is “significantly more capable” than the company’s most recent AI model release, its researchers decided to use it on certain notable advanced maths problems.
OpenAI admitted that last week on 1 September, it had “heard rumors that two Millennium Prize problems had been resolved” and so decided to put thousands of AI bots trained on the new internal model to work attempting to solve some of the remaining problems.
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By Sept 5, or roughly 88 hours after it had set 10,000 AI bots to the task, OpenAI had found a solution to what’s referred to as the Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness problem.
The problem is at the heart of turbulence, which is a phenomenon that is still not well understood.
Although it took the AI bots seemingly little time to reach a solution, OpenAI said the bots exchanged nearly 3 million messages and used up 130 billion output tokens, or the individual lines of text and code an AI model produces in answers, on Navier–Stokes alone.
Such an effort would have cost roughly $10m (£7.3m), based on OpenAI’s own pricing, external for output from its most advanced models.
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The solution that OpenAI says it has now reached for the Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness problem resolved two out of the four statements in the proof that the Millennium Prize had demanded. The prize is worth $1m to a winner.
“Our goal in releasing this result is to report on the substantial progress of our AI models”, OpenAI said on Tuesday. “We do not intend to claim the Millennium Prize for this result.”
Already the company’s claim is stirring some controversy.
Tristan Buckmaster, a mathematics professor at New York University, said on Tuesday, external that he and Levent Alpöge, a mathematician working for OpenAI rival Anthropic, had also been working toward solutions for the problem.
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The duo had been using OpenAI’s tool Codex in their work. But Buckmaster said that on 3 September, he found out that “information about our progress had been passed to OpenAI.”
Buckmaster’s statement came the same day, but hours before, OpenAI published its Navier–Stokes work. He claimed that OpenAI did not begin working on the Navier–Stokes equations until “after information about our work had reached OpenAI.” He included text from emails exchanged with OpenAI over the work and his questions of the company’s timing and methods.
Buckmaster added that he had not yet read OpenAI’s full proof, but felt compelled to go public with “what I was told, when, and what was proposed to me…because the alternative is to let a sequence of announcements say something I know to be false.”
OpenAI on Tuesday congratulated the “concurrent work” of Buckmaster and Alpöge, calling it “remarkable.”
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The company said it had not seen “any of their work through any means until they released it publicly” and that no user data was accessed in its work on the Navier–Stokes problem.
“While unlikely, we cannot rule out that de-identified data derived from their usage of our products helped improve our models”, the company added. “However, our proofs differ significantly and even the precise results proved are different.”
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