As an editor for Retail Dive, it’s my job to keep tabs on every piece of retail-related news—the good, the bad, and the silly. From El Chapo's impact on a retailer (for better or for worse) to merch based on a Kanye West tweet-storm, here are some of the most interesting stories from around the Web.
The wisdom of Kanye
When Kanye West gifted the internet one of his infamous tweet storms this week — once again directed at rapper Wiz Khalifa — we got some gems that have since been deleted:
“I went to look at your twitter and you were wearing cool pants”
“You have distracted from my creative process”
“I made it so we could wear tight pants”
Ever the hotbed of artsy-craftsy entrepreneurship, Etsy users manufactured a range of (strangely non-pants-related) merchandise showcasing Kanye’s words, Racked reports.
The good kind of slime
Here's a fun fact from a recent BBC article on South Korean women’s skin care: “South Korean women spend twice as much of their income on beauty products and make-up than their American counterparts.”
Slightly more fun (or not, depending on your point-of-view)? Snail slime and seaweed are two of the main ingredients in Korean skincare products, which saw a record amount of exports to other markets in 2015.
Live! Music!
Target Field and Levi's Stadium recently added another venue named after a retailer to their ranks: Express Live!. Buzzfeed reports that Ohio-based mall chain Express has scooped up the naming rights to the concert venue, likely to raise the brand's visibility through attendees’ “wish you were here” tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagrams.
The best music + the best style = the best concert venue... EXPRESS LIVE! @promowestlive pic.twitter.com/tOdq07vpLh
— EXPRESS (@expresslife) January 27, 2016Sweater switch-up
Saturday Night Live wasn’t deterred when they couldn’t score the Milly sweater Sarah Palin recently wore when she endorsed presidential candidate Donald Trump. Instead, Time reports that the comedy show crafted their own recreation of the sold-out garment for its skit featuring Tina Fey’s impression of the former Alaskan governor.
Leave it to the incredible #SNL wardrobe department to create Tina Fey's sweater in less than a week. pic.twitter.com/kbB64yu9Bm
— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) January 24, 2016The El Chapo effect
And lastly, we end with an update on those silky, loudly printed shirts seen on El Chapo that have seized the Internet’s attention. The retailer offering those garments, Barabaras, told Mashable that they have been “paralyzed” by the number of orders that have come through for the shirts, at one point crashing the website and making the retailer ask staff to work overtime to meet demand.
