Despite a tough macroecoeconomc environment where high housing prices and low turnover have dampened demand for renovation projects, Home Depot continued to ramp up capex spending in 2025.

The company spent $3.7 billion on capital expenditures in fiscal 2025, per its latest earning results. That’s up from $3.5 billion in 2024, $3.2 billion in 2023, $3.1 billion in 2022, and $2.6 billion in 2021.

As a percentage of sales, this number has also ticked upward. In 2021, Home Depot’s capex spending was 1.7% of sales. In 2025, the exact percentage was closer to 2.25%, and the company is forecasting spending 2.5% of sales in fiscal 2026, with the goal of growing market share regardless of the macroeconomic situation.

“We plan to continue investing in our business with capital expenditures of approximately 2.5% of sales for fiscal 2026,” CEO Richard McPhail told shareholders. “We believe that we will grow market share in any environment by strengthening our competitive position with our customers and delivering the best customer experience in home improvement.”

Keep reading here.—AV

After January’s flurry of new CEO announcements, February saw a few more new chief execs. But more retailers and CPGs were also filling out their C-suites with roles across chief operations, marketing, brand, customer, and merchandising officers. Here are the major moves to know:

• After a nearly yearlong search for a new leader following the sudden departure of Rodney McMullen last year, Kroger announced its new CEO is Greg Foran, former president and CEO of Walmart US.
• Target shared a number of C-suite moves under new CEO Michael Fiddelke. The retailer named longtime execs Lisa Roath as COO and Cara Sylvester as chief merchandising officer. Meanwhile, Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez and the retailer’s chief merchandising officer for apparel and accessories, Jill Sando, both departed.
• Corona beer maker Constellation Brands tapped board member Nicholas Fink as its next CEO, taking over for Bill Newlands amid the company’s slipping sales, effective April 13.
• Revlon appointed Mario Rivera, ​​previously SVP and chief supply chain and logistics officer at CVS Health, as its new COO to oversee the beauty giant’s supply chain.
• Following its bankruptcy filing in January, Saks Global created the position of chief marketing and digital officer, naming Neiman Marcus Group exec Cheryl Han to the role.
• Claire’s named former Nike and Athleta exec Michelle Goad as its chief brand officer, the first C-suite hire since investment firm Ames Watson bought the retailer last August.

Keep reading here.—EC

If there’s one thing David Protein is going to do, it’s try to stand out. That’s why when it came time to pick the packaging, the team behind the brand went for gold.

“If you walk down the [protein bar] aisle today, you get bombarded with colors and different brands and really very little differentiation,” Oula Ghanem, chief of staff at David, told us. “[Our] strategy has been trying to differentiate across every possible feature of the product.”

Even the brand’s name, a reference to Michelangelo’s David sculpture, intentionally deviates from category standards, said Rion Harmon, co-founder and ECD at creative agency Day Job, which works with David. “We have lines for the brand like, ‘Nature made marble and humans made David,’ and it’s sort of hilarious, right?” he said. “We're talking about protein bars here.”

That irreverence and desire to be different is a big reason why the brand’s marketing has been unconventional for a protein bar. Since launching in September 2024, David has raised eyebrows selling cod on its website, sending sex toys to influencers, and running subway ads without a lick of text—just a picture of the product.

Keep reading here on Marketing Brew.—KH

The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s weekly news quiz has been compared to getting a company-wide shout-out from your boss. It’s that satisfying.