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As Walmart continues to try to innovate and stay ahead of the competition, it says adult beverages is part of the equation. Alcohol, however, is a hard industry for large traditional retailers to scale. But as other retailers and platform begin to experiment in the space, it's clear alcohol is going to become a huge competitive battleground.
On Wednesday, Foot Locker is launching Greenhouse, a new incubator for emerging brands. Greenhouse will live as a standalone shopping app, where it will release limited-edition product drops in partnership with select brands and designers. Greenhouse is one of a number of ways that Foot Locker is trying to reinvent itself as a destination for more than just athletic gear.
Target's Cartwheel rewards program has for the past several years been pointed to as one of the most successful loyalty programs from a big-box retailer. Yet, late last year, Target announced that it was testing a new loyalty program called Target Circle, that would replace Cartwheel. The new loyalty program is meant to bridge the gap between Cartwheel, a digital couponing app that was free, but still geared towards diehard Target shoppers, and Red Card, Target's private label credit card.
This past year, Dollar General has excelled, even ahead of the pack in other dollar store categories, thanks to a series of programs aimed at trimming margins and enticing customers. These include opening a number of new stores, investing in private-label brands as well as building out in-house logistics programs. Put together, Dollar General is creating a multi-pronged dollar store expansion strategy.
Fashion subscription service Le Tote announced it was buying Lord & Taylor for $100 million. At first glance, it's an example of a digitally native company trying to enter the big leagues. But it remains to be seen if the bet will pay off.
Over the past several weeks, a steady drip of traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have announced plans to launch their own rental and resale service. They see these services as a way to reach a younger, more socially-conscious consumer, and they're inspired by the success of fast-growing startups like Rent the Runway and the RealReal. But many of the startups these traditional retailers are seeking to emulate remain unprofitable, and are struggling to maintain high levels of customer service as they continue to scale.
ThredUp just raised $175 million, and has big plans to scale. One of its strategies focuses on partnerships with big retailers. While the online clothing resale company describes this as a new platform, it's more of a way to gain more widespread recognition.
Target just announced a new private label grocery brand, Green & Gather. While the company offers numerous private labels, this marks Target's attempt to retool its overall grocery strategy.
Nike’s newest venture, a sneaker membership model for kids, is part of the brand’s push to establish stronger direct customer relationships. This time, the idea is to start young.
This past week, Arizona Iced Tea announced plans to launch a partnership with a cannabis company. It follows a few other bigger brands dipping their toes in the cannabis space. While ingredients like THC and CBD are trending culturally, the companies trying to launch these products have an unclear regulatory road ahead.
In an SEC filing this week, Walgreens Boots Alliance said that it would close 200 stores in the U.S. as part of a cost-cutting program as the pharmacy chain struggles to chart a path forward for its vast store fleet.
A rent increase was only the final breaking point in a years’ long lead up to Barneys’ bankruptcy decline. A series of business deals saddled the brand with too much debt that led to a degradation of customer service from top-line pressures and a loss of identity helped seal its fate well before rent skyrocketed.
More retailers are turning to podcasts to get across their brand messaging. The most recent example is Staples, which announced an entire new content platform. The question remains: Are these programs real, or just a passing trend?
As its marquee shaving brand Gillette continues to lose market share, P&G has instead turned its attention to developing new premium products in the shaving category, acquiring smaller digitally-native brands, as well as trying to stay ahead of consumer trends in other of its top product categories.
As Target and Walmart increasingly build up their e-commerce offerings, Amazon is trying to cling to its positioning in search results. As such, the e-commerce giant tweaked its algorithm to focus more on external search results. When customers type “leopard print bedding” into Google, Amazon wants to ensure that an Amazon product -- not a Walmart product -- comes up first. It's a small but important change, and signals a turning tide.
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