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This week, a Virginia Target store joined the wave of union activity among retail workers. The workers collective, Target Workers Unite, filed the motion with the National Labor Relations Board. The Christiansburg, Virginia, location’s upcoming union election is being led by Adam Ryan, one of the leaders of Target Workers Unite.
REI's used gear sales grew 86% last year compared to 2020. REI's circular commerce and new business development director Ken Voeller talked to Modern Retail about streamlining rental and resale, leaning on REI's co-op model for product acquistion and the complications of selling used technical gear.
Celebrity-founded brands have exploded in the past few years, with many public figures coming on as founders. One holding company, A-Frame Brands, is working with BIPOC celebrities to help them launch and scale brands.
In January, Pacsun unveiled its own NFT series, dubbed Pac Mall Rats. Pacsun’s focus on NFTs is all part of its digital-first strategy, which includes its initiatives in AR and VR experiences as well as gaming.
Founded in 2012, Affirm was one of the pioneer BNPL solutions in the country. Now partnered with nearly 170,000 active merchants, Geoff Kott, Affirm's chief revenue officer, said Affirm plans to not only continue to add more merchants to its roster, but also expand its relationship with existing partners.
In a bid to tap into the humanization of pet trend, PetSmart formed an exclusive partnership with Nom Nom, a pet health company designed to improve the lives of dogs through meals. With its newly formed deal with Nom Nom, PetSmart is banking on the fresh and frozen category to take off.
Cassey Ho has been posting workout videos on YouTube and creating other forms of content online since 2009. Since then, she's expanded into the retail business, inking partnerships with Target and growing Popflex into a top fitness brand.
EBay is focusing on luxury resellers and buyers with new authentication capabilities and a new product storage vault. In eBay’s fourth quarter 2021 earning report in February, the company announced double digit U.S. sales growth in luxury handbags and watches. Modern Retail chatted with eBay’s GM of luxury, Tirath Kamdar, about expanding into authentication, the launch of eBay Vault, and how eBay is competing with peers like The RealReal.
Last week, Shipt announced it was partnering with nearly 500 Sephora stores for same-day delivery, following early partnerships with 7-Eleven and Walgreens this year. Shipt's Chief Business Officer, Rina Hurst, chatted with Modern Retail about moving from grocery delivery to beauty, as well as the looming threat of 15-minute delivery.
Stadium Goods launched its newly renovated and expanded Soho this week. Founded in 2015, The company began by specializing in sneaker and streetwear resell. But the company has been moving into the apparel space in recent years — a shift the company wants to capture in its physical presence.
Resale platform Chairish has re-sold over 588,000 pieces of vintage furniture and art from 10,000 sellers. Capitalizing on the boom in the wider resale market, the San-Francisco-based company expanded into Europe last month on the back of its acquisition of Europe-based Pamono. With a larger assortment of goods, comes an even greater need for meticulous curation, according to co-founder and CEO Gregg Brockway.
The healthy breakfast aisle has greatly expanded since cereal brand Kashi first debuted in the mid-1980s. Over the years, the company has worked to expand its customer base beyond the organic granola-eating crowd. Now, the company is further trying to appeal to young cereal consumers with changing diets and tastes, according to Kashi’s director of brand marketing, Melanie Hall.
Watch brand Jacob and Co. has no shortage of celebrity clients -- Beyonce name dropped the jeweler in a song and Zendaya wore its spider-web earrings worth $31,800 to a red carpet event for “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” But it has shifted its social media strategy to lean more on watch-focused micro-influencers. In an interview with Modern Retail, CEO Benjamin Arabov spoke about how he grew the online following his family's brand, as well as the overall social commerce space.
After a bumpy year-plus, skincare brand Apto is now available nationwide for the first time in its six year history through back-to-back wholesale pacts with Walmart and Target. Founder Marta Cros spoke with Modern Retail about the trials and tribulations.
Adidas is banking on digital collectibles to drive new customers to its streetwear app, "Confirmed." As part of a new initiative, Adidas has become the latest brand to embrace NFTs. Adidas’s senior director for digital growth, Tareq Nazlawy, spoke with Modern Retail about choosing collaborators in the NFT space, how digital goods can help it to partner with more external creators and why it is difficult to put a price on the metaverse’s monetization opportunities.
Many retailers are working to find new ways to cut down on waste and run more efficiently -- and some are betting more advanced technology will help along the way. Urban Outfitters' Nuuly, for example, is now using Google Cloud to help its sustainability tracking.
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