Retail Brew

Move over logos and stadium signage. Under Armour and the Baltimore Ravens are taking their hometown relationship into its next era. The Baltimore-based athleticwear brand and NFL team recently extended their partnership for another 10 years, with plans that include an exclusive Ravens x Under Armour collection, an expanded hospitality presence at M&T Bank Stadium, and continued investment in youth football.

The back-to-school shopping season hit its stride in August, according to the latest Shopify data shared first with Retail Brew. While an eclectic mix of school supplies and fall wardrobe items sold well in July, those trends sharpened in August as parents got serious about stocking their kids’ desks. Sales spiked for label clips (up 606%), graphic calculators (56%), and kids’ desks (47%), as well as desk calendars (up 31%) and sticky notes (up 25%).

Once upon a time, an air of exclusivity enveloped the sale of prestige beauty products. At the turn of the 21st century, department stores existed as the destination for high-end beauty, with kiosks helmed by salespeople ready to color match a foundation or spritz a perfume. Then, in the early 2000s, Sephora’s open-sell concept quickly gained momentum, while Ulta Beauty’s high-low strategy made inroads with consumers in the 2010s, leading to the continual decline of department stores.

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself. Danny Rosenoff is CEO of XCCommerce, which works with retailers like LL Bean and Ann Taylor to execute omnichannel promotion strategies. How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail?

So dedicated to her gas stove was Julia Child that she vowed she’d “take it to [her] grave,” although it ended up in the Smithsonian instead. But while gas stoves were once non-negotiable for serious cooks, their flames may be flickering amid concerns about their impact on indoor air quality and the environment. New York state has enacted a ban on the installation of gas stoves in most new buildings, as have dozens of cities in the US.

The two biggest US dollar stores saw increased traffic in Q2, but how they hooked their customers with pricing and assortment varied in some significant ways. While Dollar Tree expanded the range of price points available at stores with its new multi-price strategy, Dollar General kept it old-school by doubling down on $1 or less. For both retailers, the proof for these approaches is in the numbers.

We know consumers tend to change their minds often and relatively quickly, but are retailers keeping up? As it turns out, not always. Per a survey from BCG’s Center for Customer Insight, 67% of shoppers said they wouldn’t purchase an item they could afford if it didn’t offer “strong value.” However, a few factors drive the perception of value for consumers.

It’s the last week before Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer and the tail end of the back-to-school shopping season. How it all shook out for retailers is still hard to say. Q2 earnings are just about finished, and they only covered the early days of the season. And retail spending data for August is still a couple weeks out.

Over the last two weeks, the biggest big box retailers reported their Q2 earnings results. The combination of financial results, shareholder calls, and big corporate announcements offer a snapshot of the industry as it hit the halfway mark for the year. Here is Retail Brew’s rundown of the biggest takeaways: Turnaround time Target’s ongoing turnaround efforts finally paid dividends in Q2. On the back of a 3.6% bump in store traffic, net sales were up 5.3% and comparable sales were up 3.8%.

August brought with it retail CMOs on the move, newly created C-suite roles, and two exec departures at a company that’s getting a new CEO next month. Here’s the major C-suite news to know this month: After declining sales for Old Navy in the second quarter, Gap Inc named Michael Francis as the next CEO of Old Navy, succeeding Haio Barbeito. Francis, former CMO of Target, joined the retailer as chief customer officer in May and will take over the role on November 2.