Simon Property Group has expanded a partnership with retail technology provider Dropit to offer its tenants the ability to optimize functions like ship from store, inventory management and returns, powered by AI, initially at 60 Simon locations. Dropit’s technology sits on top of a company’s OMS, WMS and inventory management systems, augmenting order sourcing, fulfillment, delivery and returns.
Retail sales, adding in gasoline, restaurants and automotive, rose 0.56% in August vs. an adjusted 0.5% in July, the Commerce Department reported, the fifth consecutive month of modest gains after a period of retreat. Excluding those categories, retail sales rose 0.6% last month, adjusted for seasonal variations, down from 1.47% in July, as rising fuel prices impacted spending in other areas. Compared to August 2022, it was up just 1%.
U.S. consumers are sending out mixed signals on their spending habits and financial self-assessments, according to management consulting firm Kearney, with over 50% saying they’re living check to check, even as retail sales rise, inflation is down and mall traffic is up. The firm also found consumers views are often at odds with the kinds of fixed categorizations endemic to the retail industry.
Fast fashion retailers Shein and Forever 21 struck a major deal aimed at cross-promoting brands to a similar audience of younger apparel shoppers heading into a closely-watched holiday season. It’s a marriage of mall, retail and brand experience with a production and distribution machine driven by tech and social savvy. But there’s a shadow cast by concerns over Shein’s business practices.
Target reported weaker Q2 sales, acknowledging it was partly due to backlash over its annual pride month collection in May, first from shoppers who reacted negatively to items like children’s clothing in front-of-store displays, then from LGBTQ groups angered by the company’s response. However, Target’s earnings beat expectations, efficiency efforts including automation and lean inventory.
L.L. Bean, looking to expose more shoppers to its iconic, century-old mix of outdoor apparel and gear, is expanding its wholesale partnerships, opening new stores in the U.S. and Canada and launching a French-language website north of the border as well. The retailer has signed wholesale partnerships with Moosejaw and Dillard’s, adding 66 storefronts, plus four new owned locations.
The American Circular Textiles Group (ACT), a coalition of apparel brands, recommerce companies and recycling solution providers, is asking the EPA to include textile waste in a draft plan to reduce plastics that was issued for review in April. ACT proposes amendments to current Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws to include textiles, and a deposit system like those for bottles and cans.
Economic signals are a bit of a mixed bag heading into the important back-to-school and back-to-college shopping season, an economist with the National Retail Federation said, with inflation easing but spending on services and essential items still impacting spending on goods. In spite of this unsettled macro picture, the NRF projects record spending on K-12 and college.
Alex and Ani, once popular for its expanded charm bracelets and a smaller competitor of the global Pandora chain with its lab-grown diamonds, is closing stores and its Rhode Island headquarters as it assesses the state of its business in a challenging post-pandemic environment. The company, which filed for bankruptcy court protection in 2021, will close 20 locations, leaving seven open.
A bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday approved the sale of Bed Bath & Beyond’s name, intellectual property and ecommerce platform to Overstock.com for $21.5 million, and the company is winding down its store assets in various lease agreements. A separate auction is being held today for the company’s buybuy Baby assets, with interested parties including Go Global Retail and Sixth Street Partners.