It’s a typical beach day: The sun is shining, the sea is warm, and the sand is making its way into every bag you brought. You pull out your sunscreen with SPF 50, ready to reapply—and then your SPF chapstick and your SPF hairspray.

Welcome to summer 2022, where everything has SPF.

“As the American consumer becomes more invested in skin care and this whole idea of wellness and health as beauty, it’s just going to bolster the category,” explained Manola Soler, senior director at Alvarez & Marsal, adding that searches for SPF increased year over year over the past five years."

“We’re seeing [sunscreen] stand out as its own category,” Soler told Retail Brew. “We’re seeing its premiumization.”

• The latest SPF report by DataWeave put SPF product availability just under 80% through July of this year, indicating consistent availability in products.
• Consumers were purchasing SPF items not just during summer months but throughout the year for everyday wear, the report concluded.

For all your needs: Take Ilia Beauty, for instance, the clean-beauty brand recently acquired by French investment firm, Famille C Venture. After developing a following for its skin-tint serum—priced at $48 and loaded with SPF and hyaluronic acid—the company recently debuted a Vitamin C serum with SPF 40 retailing for $64.

• Although the product has been around for only about a month, Ilia Beauty said it was sold out at Sephora for a week when it first debuted.

Ultimately, Ilia Beauty saw a gap in the market for SPF products that combined several benefits of healthier skin and protection from the sun, Kym Davis, the company’s VP of product development, told Retail Brew.

SPF sure has a busy schedule, and these retailers are ready for a long holiday.—JS

Macy’s has its eye on the future. Last week, the department store chain announced it will expedite the opening of three off-mall, smaller-format concepts this fall.

The new stores will be additional Market by Macy’s locations, which are part of an effort to reimagine the company’s store design so it's more in-line with shifting expectations. At those stores, customers can pay bills or pick up orders from the dedicated “At Your Service” desks inside.

• The company will also open its first dual Market by Macy’s and Macy’s Backstage store.

“We want to be convenient and we want to make it easy,” Marc Mastronardi, Macy’s chief stores officer, told CNBC. “Customer behavior just keeps changing. And the more that we have the agility as an organization to shift and react, this feels like the next natural evolution.”

Ch-ch-changes: Macy’s laid out a plan in February 2020 to close ~125 of its least-productive stores over the following three years, which the company said accounted for roughly $1.4 billion in 2020 sales.

• Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette said that—at the time—while Macy’s had done a good job growing its top-line business over the past three years, there’s more work to be done on the bottom line.

Macy’s is also giving Toys “R” Us a new lease on life with plans to open shop-in-store at all locations. They’ll range from 1,000 to 10,000 square feet.

• The shops will open starting at the end of the month through October 15, just ahead of the holiday shopping season, an important time for retailers.

+1: Skin care brand Clinique has made itself at home, opening a new retail concept, The Lab, inside Macy’s Herald Square flagship in NYC.—KM

What’s the holdup? Yeezy teamed up with Gap 18 months ago, but has only put out two products. (the New York Times)

Time to rebound: J. Crew’s CEO Libby Waddle took over right after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and now has ambitious plans to bring more men into its customer base with a new collection. (the Wall Street Journal)

Slow to adopt: Although rapid-delivery startups have raised billions of dollars, new research shows that retailers and brands have yet to fully integrate the offering into their services. (Modern Retail)

Retailer refresh: As new retail trends and challenges (constantly) arise, Bazaarvoice is highlighting the latest ins and outs so brands know where to lean next. Check out all the pivotal insights in the 2022 Shopper Experience Index.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

We asked Morning Brew readers about their thoughts on inflation and found out most of you have already cut back on costs. (So, basically no more ordering DoorDash 7x/week.)

Check out the full results of our survey here, and see how other readers are reducing their spending.

At the mall, it’s where band tees are the only tees. In Retail Brew, it’s where we invite readers to weigh in on a trending retail topic.

Since the Dobbs decision, pharmacies have seen an increased demand for birth control and contraceptives. But one provider, Walgreens, has come under scrutiny after reports of employees denying customers access to such products.

The #BoycottWalgreens hashtag has garnered 3.5 million views on TikTok, as of July 25. The company has defended its employees, stating they are permitted to refuse to sell contraceptives on religious or moral grounds.

• “The instances are rare, however when a team member has a moral or religious conviction about completing a transaction, they are required to refer the customer to another employee or manager on duty who will complete the transaction, which is what occurred in this instance,” a Walgreens spokesperson told NBC News.

You tell us: Do you agree that Walgreens employees should be able to refuse the sale of contraceptives on religious grounds? Cast your vote here.

Circling back: Last week, we asked why you believe consumers are gravitating toward smaller-packaged snacks and drinks? Just over 45% of you said because they are less expensive than larger products, while 39.6% said it’s for health-related reasons and 12.5% said it’s because there are no other options available.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Tools of the trade: How Bubble Wrap became a pop idol
• A new vertical farm—the world’s largest—crops up
• How one startup is bringing user-generated content to e-comm sites