By Sonal Gandhi
Chief Content Officer at The Lead
Busy week for M&A – Randa and Marquee brands came together to acquire Totes Isotoner, ABG acquired Champion, Estée acquired Deciem and Outdoor Voices was bought by Consortium Brand Partners. In other financial news, Father’s Day spending is expected to hit $22.4B, nearly on-par with last years’ record high, and private label beauty brands continue to gain with inflation-weary consumers.
On a related note, Christina Hennington, EVP and Chief Growth Officer will share how Target uses partnerships and collabs to grow its private label brands at The Lead Summit on July 10th and 11th in NYC. Join us.
● With returned inventory accounting for 9.6 billion pounds of landfill waste annually, new entrants like Binstar are making it easier for retailers to liquidate their returns and provide a new type of bargain hunting thrill to customers. The company opened its fourth location in under a year and is already profitable. (Retail Brew)
● Zara will expand its live shopping broadcasts to the UK, Europe and the United States this year, testing a format that the brand launched in China last year to great success. In the west, Zara has chosen to host live shows on its app and website instead of a third-party social media platform to ensure control over aesthetics. (Business of Fashion)
● Hoka opened its first flagship, a 9,000-square-foot store on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, to showcase the brand, highlight bigger campaigns and have a place for the full assortment to be displayed. The store will also serve as a meeting spot for the Hoka Run Club. (Modern Retail)
● Launchmetrics ranked brands using a system called Media Impact Value (MIV) through which brands assign monetary values to posts, interactions and articles to measure impact. Data from Jan 1, 2020 to Dec 31, 2023 was examined in order to see which brands were winning with Gen Z. Premium brands such as Skims, Calvin Klein, Levi’s, Lululemon, Coach gained the most MIV, rising 114 percent. (Fashion United)
● Sales of private label beauty and personal care products including Goodfellow & Co by Target, Signature Care by Albertsons and Levitate Beauty by Family Dollar continue to grow in 2024, according to figures from the Private Label Manufacturers Association. Beauty products during the year’s first quarter were up 7.9% in dollars and 2.1% in unit sales. (Store Brands)
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