Weekly News Update // November 1, 2022

Here's Traub's weekly roundup of recent consumer and retail news. This week, Gucci expands in the metaverse, Musk takes over Twitter, Food brand prices & profits soar, and more.

 M&A and INVESTMENTS

• ESPN Sells Majority Stake in X Games to Investor Group That Includes Tony Hawk Bloomberg
• Google Acquires Twitter-backed AI Avatar Startup Alter for $100 million TechCrunch
  
• Bankrupt Revlon Says It Is Entertaining Sale Offers BoF
• Walgreens-Backed VillageMD Said to Explore Deal for Summit Bloomberg
• Beauty Tech Company Perfect Corp. Goes Public WWD
• Kibo Sells Personalization Platform to Centre Lane Partners Retail TouchPoints
• Shopify Acquires Remix to Bolster its Storefront Design Tools TechCrunch
• Victoria’s Secret Acquires Adore Me for $400 million  BoF

INDUSTRY NEWS

Target and Apple Triple Store-in-Store Relationship to 150 Locations

Target and Apple deepen collaboration with more shop-in-shops and best offer available through a retailer on Apple Fitness+, just in time for the holidays. Yahoo Finance

A woman is suing L'Oréal, claiming hair straightening products caused her uterine cancer

A new lawsuit claims L'Oréal's hair products contributed to uterine cancer in a 32-year-old woman. Insider

Ye-Adidas Divorce Muddles Ownership of Yeezy Brand, Designs

Adidas AG’s decision to sever ties with the musician Ye has created a morass over how intellectual property rights developed in their multibillion dollar collaboration are split and whether there’s a path forward that avoids a court fight. BoF

NYC’s Once-Cool 1 Oak Night Club Has Been Evicted

Apparently, the club, once frequented by celebrity clientele —which has been closed since the start of the pandemic—owes almost $1.8 million in back rent, according to court records. Robb Report

Saks Off 5th Chief Expects Strong Holiday Gift-giving

The president and chief executive officer of Saks Off 5th knows that during challenging times, the off-price sector historically outperforms other retail channels. WWD

Over 90% of Retailers Say Returns Outpace Revenue

Returns are growing faster than revenue for 90 percent of retailers, according to new data from Appriss Retail and Incisiv. Sourcing Journal

Mattel Cuts Profit View as Inflation Hits Barbie, Fisher-Price Demand

Mattel Inc cut its annual profit forecast on Tuesday and said it would ramp up promotions heading into the busy holiday season as red-hot inflation discourages Americans from spending on its Barbie dolls and Fisher-Price toys. Reuters

Hershey’s Turnaround Story Isn’t Sweet. It’s Salty

Hershey has focused its attention on the U.S. market by acquiring snacking brands, and reduced its focus overseas to grow company sales and profits. WSJ

Abercrombie & Fitch, Walgreens Improve Product Pickup Experience with More and Faster Options

Abercrombie & Fitch and Walgreens are both continuing to enhance their last mile options with new initiatives adding approximately 12,000 pickup options nationwide. Retail TouchPoints

Gucci Vault opens metaverse world in The Sandbox with games and vintage fashion

Gucci’s virtual world is now open on digital real estate platform The Sandbox, expanding its Gucci Vault metaverse hub and making it the first major fashion brand to have its own space on the platform. Vogue Business

Why the New Guard of Digital Brands Are Embracing Wholesale

When even Glossier and Allbirds are signing deals with multi-brand retailers, it’s clear the go-it-alone era is over. Here’s how some new brands are building wholesale into their business plan from the get-go. BoF

Beer is defying the economic slowdown, AB-InBev CEO says

Economic slowdowns around the world hasn't yet led to beer sales going flat for mega-brewer AB-InBev. Yahoo! Finance

Ross opens another 40 stores as footprint tops 2K locations

Ross Stores has opened another 40 locations. The new locations include stores in California, Florida, Texas, Ohio and Illinois. Retail Dive

Ralph Lauren Teams With Fortnite on Digital, Physical Collection

The brand has teamed with Fortnite, the online gaming platform, on both a digital apparel and accessories collection and a physical apparel capsule. WWD

YouTube redesign gives long-form videos, Shorts and Live videos their own tabs on channel pages

YouTube is rolling out a change impacting how videos appear on its platform with a redesign that now splits video content into three different tabs on all channel pages. TechCrunch 

Fast-Fashion Juggernaut Shein’s Sales Close In on Zara, H&M

Online retailer Shein is on track to generate revenue of $24 billion this year - can sell apparel at ultralow prices because it has very little excess merchandise. WSJ

Food Prices Soar, and So Do Companies’ Profits

Some companies and restaurants have continued to raise prices on consumers even after their own inflation-related costs have been covered. NYT

Elon Musk Ousts Twitter Board, Named Sole Director

Overhaul of nine-member board comes after Tesla billionaire completed $44 billion deal. WSJ

Mask and sanitizer brands are charting a new course

Companies making these products are looking for new ways forward as concerns around the still ongoing pandemic ease. Glossy

COMINGS & GOINGS

• Repetto Appoints Female Executive Duo WWD 
• Bed Bath & Beyond Removes Interim From Sue Gove’s CEO Title CNBC
• Fanatics Names Chief People Officer WWD
• Etsy Names Its Engineering VP Rachana Kumar New CTO Seeking Alpha
• Away Names CFO Catherine Dunleavy As First President WWD

GOOD READS

• Why brands should go beyond a metaverse cameo Retail Dive
• ‘Lipstick Effect’ Starts Fading for Consumer Beauty Groups BoF