September 25, 2026 Weekly Retail Supply Chain News

Shein opened a new 737,000-square-foot automated distribution center in Lebanon, Indiana, this month, roughly 1.5 miles from its existing Whitestown facility. The center runs on a goods-to-person fulfillment system that brings products directly to worker stations rather than having employees walk the floor, cutting manual labor and improving safety. The opening pushes Shein’s total Indiana footprint past 2.5 million square feet and is expected to add hundreds of jobs, building on the more than 1,300 people the company already employs in the state. The move mirrors a broader shift among fast-fashion and marketplace retailers—including rival Temu—toward building out domestic fulfillment capacity as cross-border shipping rules keep evolving, giving these companies more control over speed and cost without relying as heavily on international logistics.

Ocean carriers are increasing the frequency of “blank sailings” (cancelled port calls) on trans-Pacific trade lanes, with roughly 6% of scheduled East-West sailings cancelled between late August and early October. The tactic is a deliberate capacity play rather than a response to weak demand—carriers are pulling vessel space to keep spot rates elevated even as import volumes moderate from their September peak. For now, this is a rate story more than a congestion one: current port data shows major East Coast gateways like Savannah still operating normally, so retail shippers should watch for knock-on yard congestion or extended dwell times in the coming weeks rather than assume it’s already here.

The national average diesel price has climbed past $6.50 a gallon—a fresh record and up roughly 35% from mid-summer lows near $4.70, driven by tight distillate supply, elevated crude costs, and geopolitical tension. Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) and regional parcel carriers are responding by pushing fuel surcharges into double-digit percentage increases. For retailers relying on frequent pallet shipments to keep store shelves stocked, these rising transport surcharges are eating directly into operating margins just as peak Q4 inventory movement gets underway.