1. Retail marks milestone: Storefronts peddling services overtake those selling clothes and other goods. The number of service-based retailers surged 20.5 percent from 2002 to 2017, totaling 1.2 million spaces, as brands need to offer something that cannot be bought or experienced on the internet. – Read More on CNBC

2. Neiman Marcus Backs Away From Discount Business: “This is a move forward. We’ve got a strategy that is working. We want to put our effort behind the full-priced, luxury customer. This is what will differentiate us from the competition.” – Read More on the WSJ

3. U.S. lawmakers seek to tighten ban on forced-labor goods from China’s Xinjiang: Leading U.S. lawmakers proposed legislation on Wednesday aimed at preventing goods made from forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region from reaching the United States. The legislation would alter existing rules and require importers to obtain certification from the U.S. government that goods were not produced using forced labor by minority Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. – Read More on Reuters

4. The Luxury Trap: Why it’s a Mistake to Define Luxury By Price. Defining a luxury brand by its functional aspects and high prices cannot replace the value a brand creates. Brands must define extreme value creation first. – Read More on Jing

5. Making Luxury Goods Under Coronavirus Lockdown: “On the production side, remote working is not possible, so it’s a question of managing risk by reducing contact between people. It should be possible to find a solution to protect the flow of goods and at the same time the health of the people.” – Read More on the WSJ