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More than 170 seasonal toys, new LEGO sets, and other gifts are coming to stores this holiday season

• Dollar General is offering more than 170 seasonal toys, with about half priced at $10 or less.

• A new dedicated shelf will feature toys priced at $5 and under, including collectibles and games.

• Shoppers can get 25% off qualifying toy purchases of $75 or more from Oct. 1 through Dec. 24.

Holiday shopping for kids can add up quickly, especially when there are multiple gifts to buy. Dollar General is looking to give shoppers more lower-priced options this season with an expanded assortment of holiday toys and gifts.

The retailer says it will carry more than 170 seasonal toys, with about half of the assortment priced at $10 or less and approximately 95% priced at $20 or less. It is also introducing a dedicated shelf for toys costing $5 or less.

The 2026 assortment includes toys tied to popular characters and trends, including Pokmon, Bluey, Disney's Stitch, Spider-Man, and The Grinch, as well as new Formula 1-themed products.

This holiday season, were focused on delivering what matters most to our customers: creating memorable moments for less because holiday toy shopping should be exciting, not stressful, Steve OBrien, Dollar Generals vice president and division merchandise manager, said in a news release.

Were helping families discover affordable gifts from brands they know and love and we are bringing back our printed toy guide to help create a little nostalgia with wish-list making with prices families can feel good about.

What's new this year?

There are plenty of smaller gift and stocking-stuffer options in the assortment. Dollar General says it will offer more than 40 giftable items priced at $1, including coloring and activity books, stickers, and novelty pens.

The retailer is also adding more than 20 new LEGO sets, ranging from $5 to $30, with themes including Frozen, Minecraft, Bluey, Spider-Man, Star Wars, and Botanicals.

Other options include:

• Play-Doh products priced from $2.50 to $15

• Melissa & Doug toys

• Bluey toys and plushes

• Pokmon products and collectibles

• Mini Brands and WWE Ballers

• New $2 Hasbro Classic Mini Games, including Connect Four, Yahtzee, Operation, and Hungry Hungry Hippos.

For shoppers looking beyond traditional toys, Dollar General says it carries more than 300 crafting items, with 85% priced below $5.

How shoppers can save even more

Starting Oct. 1 and running through Dec. 24, customers can receive 25% off qualifying toy purchases totaling $75 or more in a single transaction. The offer includes clearance toys, although some exclusions apply.

Shoppers can also purchase the holiday assortment online through myDG, with delivery available from participating stores. Dollar General says customers can receive a free delivery fee on one myDG Delivery order using their myDG account.

For families building holiday shopping lists, the combination of lower-priced toys, new products and a larger seasonal selection gives shoppers several price points to consider as they plan their gift purchases.

CDC reports an increase in rabies exposures and urges people to take animal encounters seriously

• The CDC says rabies-related inquiries increased 17% from July through August 2026 compared with the same period last year.

• People should avoid contact with wildlife, particularly animals that appear sick, injured, or are behaving unusually.

• Anyone who may have been exposed should immediately wash the area and contact a healthcare or public health professional.

Rabies may not be something most people think about regularly, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reminding the public to take potential exposures seriously.

In a recent health advisory, the agency reported that several areas of the U.S. have seen increases in people being exposed to animals that are known to carry rabies or could potentially have the disease.

Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system. It can spread through bites, scratches, or contact with an infected animal's saliva. Once symptoms begin, rabies is nearly 100% fatal, but it can be prevented when appropriate treatment is given before symptoms develop.

The CDC received 17% more rabies-related inquiries from July through August 2026 than it did during the same period in 2025. At least eight state health departments also reported increases in rabies treatment, treatment errors, or both.

What the CDC is seeing

Rabies exposure does not automatically mean someone needs the full course of preventive treatment. Healthcare professionals and public health officials assess the animal involved, how the exposure happened, whether the animal showed signs consistent with rabies, and the severity of any wound.

When treatment is necessary, it is called post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP. For someone who has never previously been vaccinated against rabies, PEP includes rabies vaccine and human rabies immune globulin. People who have previously completed rabies vaccination generally receive two vaccine doses and do not receive the immune globulin.

The CDC says errors in determining who needs PEP or how it is administered can lead to unnecessary treatment, additional doses, potential side effects, and avoidable expenses. A typical course can cost between $11,000 and $14,000 per person.

How consumers can stay safe

The CDC recommends keeping your distance from wildlife and never approaching animals that appear sick, injured, or dead. This is particularly important if an animal is behaving unusually, such as wildlife that is active during the daytime when it is normally active at night.

Pet owners should keep their animals current on rabies vaccinations and keep them away from wildlife when possible.

If you are bitten or scratched by wildlife or an animal acting sick, immediately wash the wound with soap and water or water alone for 15 minutes. Then contact a healthcare provider or public health professional to discuss whether you may need rabies-related treatment. If possible, provide details about the animal and its behavior. If the animal belongs to someone else, ask for proof that its rabies vaccination is current.

Most importantly, don't try to handle an unfamiliar or potentially sick animal yourself. Contact local animal control or your health department for help.

A large U.K. study found that drink temperature may matter more than whats in your cup.

• Drinking beverages at very hot temperatures was linked to a higher risk of one type of esophageal cancer.

• People drinking six or more hot drinks a day also had a higher risk of that cancer.

• Simply allowing your coffee or tea to cool before drinking it could potentially reduce some of that risk.

For many people, coffee and tea are everyday staples. But new research suggests that how hot those drinks are when you consume them could matter when it comes to esophageal cancer.

The study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, looked specifically at two major types of esophageal cancer: squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC). Researchers wanted to better understand whether drink temperature and the number of hot drinks people consumed each day were associated with either type.

Previous research has connected very hot beverages generally around 70C (158F) with esophageal cancer. However, less was known about temperatures more typical of Western countries.

How researchers studied it

Researchers combined information from two large U.K. studies: the Million Women Study and the U.K. Biobank. Together, the analysis included 977,282 adults.

Participants reported how they preferred their hot drinks: warm, hot, or very hot. They also reported how many cups of tea and coffee they typically drank each day. Researchers grouped consumption into fewer than six drinks per day or six or more.

The participants were then followed for years using health records to identify new cancer diagnoses. The researchers ultimately identified 2,348 cases of esophageal cancer, including 1,045 cases of SCC and 1,303 cases of AC. The average follow-up lasted 14.2 years in the Million Women Study and 11.1 years in the U.K. Biobank.

What the results mean for consumers

The researchers found that people who preferred their drinks very hot had about three times the risk of developing esophageal SCC compared with those who preferred warm drinks. The researchers did not find the same relationship between drink temperature and adenocarcinoma.

Frequency mattered, too. After accounting for drink temperature, people who consumed six or more hot drinks per day had a 71% higher risk of SCC than those who drank fewer than six.

Based on their analysis, the researchers estimated that 14% of SCC cases could potentially be avoided if people who currently drink beverages at very hot temperatures instead drank them at temperatures described in the study as hot.

The findings don't mean that drinking coffee or tea automatically causes cancer. Instead, they point to drink temperature and frequency as potentially modifiable factors associated with SCC risk.

For consumers, one simple takeaway from the research is that giving your coffee or tea a little more time to cool may be worth considering.

Retailer apps can use your location and shopping history to personalize deals, so shoppers may see different offers

• Retail apps are moving beyond digital coupons: They could potentially be using your location inside a store to deliver offers and product recommendations.

• Two shoppers could receive different discounts on the same product: Factors such as loyalty status, purchase history, and shopping behavior could all play a role in discounts.

• There's a privacy trade-off: Location can make apps more useful, but shoppers should check exactly what permissions they've given retail apps.

Imagine you're standing in the cereal aisle staring at two boxes trying to decide which one to buy. You pull out your grocery store's app to check on a coupon and magically a discount for one of them pops up.

Coincidence? Maybe not.

Retailers are increasingly looking at their apps as a bridge between your digital shopping habits and what you're doing inside a physical store.

That could eventually mean an app doesn't just know what you've bought before. With the right permissions, it could potentially know where you are in the store and use that information to decide which offers or recommendations to show you.

And the shopper standing next to you might see something completely different.

Your location could trigger an offer

Criteos 2026 CPG Pulse Study, which combines commerce data with a survey of more than 6,300 consumers globally, found 60% of recent grocery buyers purchased exclusively in brick and mortar stores. The same was true for 64% of household-product buyers.

That makes the phone hanging out in your pocket very valuable to retailers trying to connect online advertising with what happens in the aisle.

"Retailer apps are becoming an important bridge between digital discovery and the physical shopping experience," Sherry Smith, president of global enterprise at Criteo, told ConsumerAffairs.

And your location can potentially become part of that equation. "Yes, with the right permissions, location can be another useful signal," Smith said.

For example, she said that if a shopper is in a particular section of a store, an app could display a discount or product recommendation that the shopper might not otherwise notice.

But location doesn't necessarily have to be the only factor working in the background. Smith said it could be combined with past purchases, searches, or even products you've put on a shopping list.

In other words, your shopping app could potentially know you're standing near the coffee, know which coffee you've purchased before, and send you a deal designed to get a particular coffee into your cart.

Pro tip: Want to try a trigger a deal or coupon? Get slightly passive aggressive and search for an item (on the stores app) that you were already planning to buy. If retailers are using searches and past purchases to determine which offers to send your way, deliberately searching for something will sometimes give the app a useful hint and send an offer your way.

You might not get the same deal as another shopper

Here's where things get particularly interesting for bargain hunters. Two people shopping for exactly the same product could potentially get different offers.

"Retailers can already personalize promotions and offers based on factors like loyalty status, purchase history, or shopping behavior, so two shoppers may receive different incentives for the same product," Smith said.

There's an important distinction. That doesn't necessarily mean the store is changing the shelf price depending on who's looking at it.

Smith specifically distinguished personalized promotions from changing the underlying shelf price for individual customers.

Instead, Shopper A might have a $2 coupon in the retailer's app while Shopper B doesn't. Or Shopper B could receive some other incentive that doesnt involve a dollar-off coupon. That makes checking the retailer's app before you head to checkout increasingly important.

Pro tip: If you're shopping with a spouse or friend who also has the store's app, compare your available offers before buying. One account may have a promotion the other doesn't.

The trade-off is your data

There's another side to all this personalization. To personalize an offer, a retailer needs some signals about you.

Those can include purchase history, browsing activity, loyalty-program activity, and products you've added to a shopping list. And, if you've given permission, potentially your location in the store and how you're interacting with the app.

Smith says transparency and consumer choice are important. "Shoppers should understand what information is being collected, how it's being used, and what they're getting in return," she said.

This is also consistent with longstanding Federal Trade Commission guidance.

Check what you've already agreed to

It's easy to tap "Allow" when an app asks for location access and forget about it.

So take 30 seconds and check. Android and iPhone users can both choose whether an app gets location access all the time, only while the app is being used, just once, or not at all.

The important question isn't necessarily whether you should refuse every permission. It's whether the benefit you're receiving is worth the information you're sharing.

Maybe you're perfectly happy letting your supermarket app use your location while you're shopping if it helps you find products and save money.

But you should know you've made that trade.

Pro tip: Go through the retail apps on your phone and check their location permissions. Pay particular attention to apps allowed to access your location all the time. If an app doesn't need your exact location to provide the features you use, consider limiting its access.

AI could make the app even more important

This could go well beyond coupons. Smith expects artificial intelligence to make retailer apps more like shopping assistants that help consumers plan trips, locate merchandise, compare products, and discover relevant deals.

Consumers are already showing some willingness to let AI handle routine purchases.

Criteo's research found that globally, 40% of consumers surveyed said they'd be comfortable allowing an AI assistant to automatically reorder personal care products. That fell to 34% for household cleaning products and 32% for groceries and staple foods.

For retailers, that creates an opportunity to combine AI with the enormous amount of first-party data generated through loyalty programs and apps.

Many of these apps could know what you usually buy, what you've been searching for, what's on your shopping list, and maybe even where you are in the store.

Giving away all of that data might very well save you money in the long-run. Just make sure you know what you're giving the retailer in return.