It’s been another week with far more retail news than there is time in the day. Below, we break down some things you may have missed during the week, and what we’re still thinking about.
From Hawaii preparing to raise minimum wage to $18 to Deckers hiring Nike vet, here’s our closeout for the week.
What you may have missed
Ulta launches a pop-up shop with the Allure Store
Ulta on Wednesday announced a pop-up shop at the Allure Store in New York City, a retail experience from Allure magazine. The pop-up will be open from July through September, and the beauty retailer is using the space to highlight newer brands in its assortment, with the selected products changing every month.
Brands that will be featured in the pop-up shop include Andrew Fitzsimons, Billie Eilish Fragrance, Black Girl Sunscreen, Charli D'Amelio Fragrance, Fenty Beauty, Love Wellness, Morphe, NYX, Olaplex, r.e.m. beauty and Supergoop, according to a company press release. The pop-up shop will also host “experiential programming” and events.
Deckers hires a Nike vet
Deckers on Wednesday announced the appointment of Anne Spangenberg as its president of fashion and lifestyle, effective July 11. Spangenberg most recently was Nike’s chief merchant. She will lead Deckers’ fashion lifestyle brands, which includes UGG and Koolaburra, and will report directly to CEO Dave Powers.
"Anne is a proven industry leader who has played a meaningful role in creating and transforming merchandising functions across categories, channels, and markets,” Powers said in a statement. “Importantly, she brings to Deckers an innate understanding of the consumer and the ability to efficiently implement strategy in alignment with the latest fashion and lifestyle trends.”
UK antitrust watchdog takes on Amazon
The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority on Wednesday announced an antitrust probe into Amazon’s U.K. marketplace, following two similar investigations by the European Commission.
In focus are how Amazon collects and uses third-party seller data, how it gives prominence to certain items or sellers and what criteria it uses for selling under the Prime label, according to a CMA press release. The agency said it’s also investigating whether Amazon and Google are doing enough about fake reviews.
Amazon has faced questions surrounding its marketplace practices from sellers, lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. as well. Adore Me, a DTC lingerie brand, in April established a storefront on Amazon’s site in hopes of combating mounting competition from imposters that it says have been pilfering its proprietary images and product details.
“Some level of regulation, policymaking, enforcement — outside of Amazon — needs to take place,” Adore Me Vice President of Strategy Ranjan Roy said this week.
Retail Therapy
E.l.f. launches gaming inspired makeup collection
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of gaming? Makeup, of course. At least E.l.f. Cosmetics hopes you will think of its latest eight piece Game Up collection, featuring bright neon colors, according to a press release.
The collection is available now on the brand’s website, and at retail locations like Target starting July 10.
The brand says this launch is “the next step in e.l.f. Cosmetics’ journey deeper into the gaming world and metaverse,” per the release. Forrester might disagree with that wording a bit, as its recent report on shopping and the metaverse says that virtual immersive commerce is more accurately a precursor to the metaverse.
That said, the collection allows customers to use codes from each of the products to unlock bonus points and gift cards through its Beauty Squad program. Those who collect all eight product codes will win a surprise product.
Aldi tries to stop cheese theft
Aldi is taking security and theft concern to the next level. The grocer is placing security tags and wire cages around $4.80 blocks of cheese at some U.K. locations, as reported by Business Insider this week. If you were thinking about sneaking a bite of cheese, think again!
Twitter posts and news outlets are reporting similar security measures on tubs of butter and hygienic products like toothpaste at other grocery stores in the U.K.
This would all be something to laugh at and move on, aside from the fact that food prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks and the cost of living overall is following suit. Food-at-home prices rose over 12% over the past year, impacting where consumers shop and what they’re buying. With Aldi’s low pricing, some consumers might still be willing to deal with the grocer’s bank-like security measures.
What we are still thinking about
$18
That will be the minimum wage in Hawaii (in 2028). A group in California, the first state to approve a $15 minimum wage, recently introduced a ballot initiative that would raise that state’s minimum to $18 by 2025. The $18 number could be the new target for activists and localities pushing for higher minimum wages — for whom the “Fight for $15” has long served as a rallying cry — as cost-of-living increases eat into pay. As a labor activist told sister publication HR Dive, “With prices rising at their fastest pace in 40 years, higher wages can’t wait!”
1.6%
That is the figure S&P Global Ratings is projecting for growth in 2023, qualifying as a “low-growth” recession on the horizon. At the moment, there are signs of growing risks for the more financially weak players in the economy. The retail industry pushed downgrades past upgrades, with ratings cuts for Bed Bath & Beyond and Rite Aid at S&P. Moreover, S&P noted that the U.S. distress ratio, a “key indicator” for rising default risk, jumped in the past week to 8.7% from 6.4% in the prior week, and is up from 2.4% from the end of May.
What we are watching
SPACS call the whole thing off
2022 is turning into a year of busted deals. Walgreens called off a sale of Boots. Office Depot owner ODP Corp. rejected acquisition bids and a spinoff of its consumer business. And Kohl’s said no to a takeover by Franchise Group.
Perhaps most interesting to note, tho, is how a number of SPAC deals have fallen through. Special purpose acquisition companies were all the rage recently as businesses sought an alternative form of entering the public market. But the Securities and Exchange Commission has been seeking tougher disclosure rules at the same time the market has become more turbulent, factors that potentially played in to the breakup of 30 deals this year, according to Bloomberg.
