Outdoor retailer giant and sustainability market leader REI announced plans to open a new circular Re/Supply location in Clackamas, Oregon in late August 2023. The new store follows REI’s Re/Supply store in Manhattan Beach, California, which opened in 2020. The new store location will feature lightly used gear and apparel that REI receives through its returns and trade-in programs.
Volcanic Retail is bringing a Tinder-style matchmaking capability to facilitate connections between brands and retail buyers, allowing them to connect through its marketplace to quickly determine compatibility and set up deals. The platform, launched in 2022, already has more than 2,000 retail buyers and 7,000 brands, the former including Tractor Supply, Whole Foods, Walmart, TJX and Nordstrom.
Best Buy reported Q1 earnings that beat expectations while revenue fell a bit short, warning of continued weakness in spending on larger-ticket electronics but expecting demand to pick up this year as consumers who bought gadgets in droves at the start of the pandemic begin to upgrade.
Standards body GS1 US is looking for major retailers and brands to step up and implement its QR-like Digital Link 2D barcode on packages, in order to drive broader market adoption and enable the transmission of richer data that can unlock a trove of value-added services like discounts and offers at checkout.
Retail sales inched up 0.4% in April from the prior month, exactly matching a rise in the Consumer Price Index, according to figures from the U.S. Commerce Department. It represented the first gain in retail sales since January, a positive sign amid economic fears and continued inflation. Excluding gas and auto, retail sales were up 4.3% in April vs. a year ago, adjusted for inflation.
Ailing home refresh retailer Bed Bath & Beyond is hoping more than $1 billion in proceeds from two separate stock sales will be enough to pay down interest and some debt to creditors and stave off bankruptcy, but many analysts are doubtful. The denouement may end up as a Chapter 7 liquidation instead of a Chapter 11 restructuring.
A group of Revlon lenders has filed a lawsuit alleging the iconic beauty retailer, now in bankruptcy court, conspired with banks and lenders to steal away first-priority liens on Revlon’s well-known brands and intellectual property in order to secure new capital as the company was failing.
Fears of inflation eating away at household incomes continues to run ahead of COVID-19 concerns, according to a May trend report from 84.51˚, the consumer data and analytics arm of Kroger. These concerns are also causing more consumers to want BNPL to expand beyond products to services, according to a Harris poll.
Amazon said it is closing six Whole Foods locations, a rare pullback after the parent company reported a disappointing Q1 loss of $3.8 billion that helped send markets tumbling on April 29. The stores being closed are located in Montgomery and Mobile, AL, Tarzana, CA, Brookline, MA and two in Chicago.
Michaels, the Dallas-based retail chain known for supplying do-it-yourself crafters for more than 45 years, is once again being acquired by a private equity firm after a seven-year run as a public company and an impressive valuation run in a very difficult year for the industry.