In 2022, metals and mining services company Phoenix Global filed for bankruptcy. It was bought by a PE fund, which brought in experts like Jeff Suellentrop, previously the CITO of Majestic Steel, to turn it around. Suellentrop and his team implemented new systems for gathering and managing data, which they integrated across Phoenix Global’s nearly two dozen worldwide locations. They also adopted Motive, an AI platform designed for logistics companies, to help increase safety and provide the company with real-time data around its vehicles and other assets.

The technology has more than paid for itself, Suellentrop, now Phoenix Global’s CITO, told CFO Brew. It’s also contributed to the company’s financial solvency: Phoenix Global emerged from bankruptcy in June 2023, and it’s “beat [its] numbers every single month since,” he noted.

AI can reap benefits—if it’s deployed correctly and for the right reasons, Suellentrop said. He shared advice for how CITOs and CFOs can work together to maximize ROI.

Until very recently, Phoenix Global relied heavily on paper, Suellentrop said. Equipment operators would complete pre- and post-shift inspection reports on paper. Admins would need to manually input information from paper rental forms into the company’s system. (“It would take days and weeks,” Suellentrop said.) The company was also taking 30–45 days to close its books, and he wanted to “get that as close to real-time as possible,” he said.

Click here to keep reading how this company saw a ROI from AI.—CV

Consumer sentiment in the US fell yet again in May, per a closely watched University of Michigan survey, as tariff worries grow increasingly ever-present for consumers.

The index of consumer sentiment dropped to 50.8, down 2.7% on a monthly basis and down nearly 30% since January 2025. The preliminary reading marks the lowest reading in three years, and the second-lowest on record, CNBC reported.

Consumers’ outlook on price changes also spiked. Year-ahead inflation expectations climbed to 7.3% from 6.5% in April. Long-term inflation expectations also rose, ticking up to 4.6% from 4.4% last month.

As tends to be the case with any surveys conducted amid the uncertainty of Trump 2.0, timing matters. The bulk of the survey was completed before the US and China announced a 90-day tariff pause, and tariffs were clearly driving the negative reading.

“Tariffs were spontaneously mentioned by nearly three-quarters of consumers, up from almost 60% in April; uncertainty over trade policy continues to dominate consumers’ thinking about the economy,” Joanne Hsu, the survey’s director, said in the release.

For more on the continuing drop in consumer sentiment, click here.—NP

Kroger shoppers have been unknowingly overcharged for items advertised as being discounted, according to an investigation by Consumer Reports, The Guardian, and the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

Across March, April, and May, the publications sent people to shop in 14 states and the District of Columbia at 26 Kroger stores and other banners it owns, like Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, and Ralphs. These shoppers discovered that more than 150 grocery items, from Cheerios to dog food, had expired sales tags, and were on average $1.70, or 18.4%, more expensive than advertised. One-third of the labels were at least 10 days expired, while five were beyond 90 days.

The reports claim the issues stem from staffing shortages, as the average numbers of employees working and hours worked have both dropped around 10% between 2019 and 2024 at these stores. Kroger said it is “inaccurate to say the company reduced standards or labor hours” in a statement published by the above publications that was also shared with Retail Brew.

Consumer Reports noted Kroger employees “work quickly” to resolve the price discrepancies when consumers identify them—Kroger’s “Make It Right” policy allows workers to do this case-by-case—but many shoppers could also be unknowingly paying the elevated prices.

To keep reading Retail Brew’s story on Kroger’s overcharging, click here.—EC