The warehouse squeeze across the U.S. increasingly is locking smaller companies out of storage space. Logistics and real-estate specialists say many large retailers are demanding extra room as they cope with a glut of inventories. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young and Paul Berger write the fierce competition for industrial real estate is driving up costs for smaller companies and in some cases driving them out of spaces. The warehouse pinch is the latest sign of a capacity crunch that has cascaded through logistics markets during the pandemic, starting with the push for scarce space on container ships late last year that left small shippers waiting on the docks. The vacancy rate for warehouses has fallen nearly two full percentage points since 2020, and in Southern California facilities are effectively full. Bigger companies with deeper pockets are prevailing in the market, leaving smaller businesses to look for alternatives.

• Amazon is suing Washington's state labor department over fines involving alleged safety hazards at a warehouse. (Reuters)

Don’t count out the brick-and-mortar stores just yet. Operators of physical stores are emerging from the pandemic with surprising strength, the WSJ’s Kate King reports, posting some of their best numbers in years and plotting expansions as more Americans venture out to buy things again. More stores opened than closed in the U.S. last year for the first time since 1995, and space is getting tighter. The vacancy rate for U.S. retail properties fell to 6.1% in the second quarter, the lowest level in at least 15 years, says Cushman & Wakefield, while asking rents for U.S. shopping centers in the quarter were 16% higher than five years ago. The real-estate figures suggest that retail supply chains that went through a wrenching upheaval in recent years are rebounding. Experts say retailers are benefiting from better integration of storefronts and online strategies, suggesting more shipments are headed to stores.

• Amazon is freezing hiring in its core retail division through the end of the year. (WSJ)
• ​Poshmark is selling itself to South Korea’s Naver in a deal that values the social shopping marketplace at less than half its public offering price. (WSJ)

A burgeoning eco-system of electronics suppliers is forming near Apple’s base in California. The number of parts suppliers to the electronics giant has grown sharply, the WSJ’s Yang Jie reports, with 48 of the company’s more than 180 suppliers reporting manufacturing sites in the U.S. as of September 2021, up from 25 a year earlier. The expansion is a sign of how the pandemic and geopolitics are beginning to reshape supply chains as a multiplier effect for manufacturing decisions ripples through parts production. The supplier list that Apple just released shows the company is still overwhelmingly dependent on East Asia, particularly China. But the California moves by Apple’s suppliers are part of a broader transition in its supply chain. Apple has told some of its manufacturers that it wants them to boost production outside China, with Vietnam and India among the countries getting a closer look.

• Apple supplier Foxconn says it is “cautiously optimistic” about the fourth quarter following record September sales. (South China Morning Post)
• Apple iPhone exports from India are on track to nearly double in the fiscal year that began in April. (Bloomberg)

Orders for manufactured goods in the U.S. were flat from July to August. (MarketWatch)

U.S. employers pulled back sharply on job openings and layoffs rose in August. (WSJ)

German’s Hapag-Lloyd is stepping up its push into inland logistics with the $1 billion acquisition of Chile-based shipping terminal and logistics businesses. (WSJ)

Ford’s U.S. sales tumbled 9% in September, as a steep drop in truck sales offset surging sales of electric vehicles. (WSJ)

The new U.S. tax-break scheme for electric vehicles is drawing angry responses from key allies in Asia and Europe. (WSJ)

Toy maker Hasbro plans up to $300 million in cost savings after lowering its full-year outlook on worsening economic conditions. (WSJ)

Lawyers for Trevor Milton are anchoring the Nikola founder’s defense against securities-fraud charges on expert testimony. (WSJ)

An Australian mining company is developing the first new U.S. manganese mine in decades. (Japan Times)

Canon will build a $345 million semiconductor equipment plant in eastern Japan. (Nikkei Asia)

Parcel carriers still have service suspended in parts of Florida hard hit by Hurricane Ian. (Supply Chain Dive)

Sea-Intelligence says schedule reliability for container lines reached a 20-month high in August. (Maritime Executive)

Vietnamese authorities reported 13 seafarers died from suspected food poisoning on a Chinese bulk ship en route from Thailand. (TradeWinds)

CMA CGM named company veteran Guillaume Lathelize CEO of its new air cargo business. (The Loadstar)

U.K. regulators cleared the GXO Logistics acquisition of Clipper Logistics. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.