Daily LInks
1. What Sells in a Pandemic? Weight Watchers, Pools and Cereal: The second-quarter earnings season brought fresh evidence of relative bright spots for spending, from the obvious demand for cleaning products to more surprising splurges like swimming pools and Weight Watchers memberships. That’s a shift from the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. – Read More on Bloomberg
2. Licensing Mogul Jamie Salter Builds Retail Empire Out of Pandemic’s Ashes: Jamie Salter, the Canadian entrepreneur who founded licensing firm Authentic Brands Group LLC has a shopping list of consumer and retail brands that had never been longer. Through its partnership with mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. and others, Authentic Brands owns over 1,000 stores, including the Aéropostale, Forever 21 and Nautica names. – Read More on WSJ
3. As The North Face battles Patagonia in outdoors market, it bets tackling climate change will pay off: “One of the fastest-growing brands is Patagonia, and I think its emphasis on sustainability and its very vocal support of environmental issues has helped it. At some point sustainability is just going to be table stakes and won’t be a differentiator, but right now the brands who tell the story the best are brands that are going to win.” – Read More on CNBC
4. IKEA unveils first branded fashion and accessories collection: IKEA’s Japanese arm has released the company’s first branded merchandise collection, featuring 10 pieces of clothing and accessories emblazoned with its logo and the barcode of the iconic Billy shelving system. The Efterträda collection forms part of a wider trend of non-fashion brands dabbling in apparel in a bid to raise their profile. – Read More on Denzeen
5. Farfetch stock soars as the shift to digital, luxury market share gains and exclusive merchandise drive revenue: “We believe physical retail will shrink rapidly (Neiman bankruptcy and we think mono-brand retailers) and we think that luxury brands will want a strong multi-brand online environment,” wrote KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts led by Edward Yruma. – Read More on Market Watch
