Follow the Investments

Retailers keep investing in automation while freight risk works its way back into operating costs.

The Fourth of July usually marks the unofficial halfway point of the year for a lot of operators.

Peak planning starts becoming real. Budget conversations shift from what happened in the first half of the year to what needs to happen before Q4. Technology projects get evaluated. Carrier conversations pick up. Capacity planning starts getting more attention.

It's also a good time to look at what the larger operators are doing. Not because every investment applies providers across the market, but because their priorities tend to signal where the industry is heading.

This week's stories are a good example. Automation, network investments, and operational resilience continue showing up across the board.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Retailers continue investing in automation

Target, Burlington, H-E-B, and Kroger have all announced major distribution investments over the past few weeks, ranging from temperature-controlled facilities to highly automated fulfillment centers.

📦️ Target opened a $367M, 529,000-square-foot food distribution center in Colorado.

📦️ Burlington opened its largest facility to date, a 2 million-square-foot automated DC in Georgia.

📦️ H-E-B and Kroger are both expanding automated capacity as part of broader network investments.

For most providers, the takeaway isn't the size of the investment. It's where the investment is going. Automation, throughput, and faster replenishment continue to move higher on the priority list.

Supply Chain Dive →

Freight risk is showing up on earnings calls again

Fresh Del Monte expects a $40 million hit this quarter, driven largely by higher ocean freight costs tied to Middle East disruptions. Burlington, Macy's, and American Eagle have all pointed to similar freight pressure in recent earnings discussions.

At the same time, an Iranian drone strike on a tanker near the Strait of Hormuz is adding another layer of uncertainty to global shipping markets.

If your customers rely on imports, this is probably a good time to revisit landed-cost assumptions and fuel or surcharge language before those conversations become reactive.

Supply Chain Dive → | The Loadstar →

A couple of smaller signals worth watching

📦️ The World Shipping Council reported 1,478 containers lost at sea in 2025, more than double the prior year.

📦️ New Jersey approved another large warehouse despite broader efforts to slow industrial development, reinforcing how difficult new capacity is becoming in parts of the Northeast.

Neither story will dominate the headlines, but both point to the same reality: capacity, whether on the water or on land, is becoming more valuable.

DC Velocity → | InsiderNJ →

PARTNER HIGHLIGHT

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A lot of providers are trying to figure out how to modernize without rebuilding their operation from scratch. This is one of the more practical approaches I’ve seen for teams operating in that middle ground between boutique flexibility and enterprise expectations. This is especially true for operators who value a streamlined partnership instead of managing an ecosystem of vendor partners.

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OPPORTUNITIES IN FULFILLMENT

Carrier Sales Representative @ Crane WW | Texas

Territory Sales Representative @ Patterson | North Carolina

Sales Manager @ Geodis | Tennessee

Regional Sales Manager @ RR Donnelley | Illinois