As a young soccer player, Meghan Whitney Higney also loved having a comfortable pair of slides. However, she realized the only two viable options were the high-end luxury variety that cost over $300 or outdoor performance brands that were under $100.

Birkenstock, Higney told Retail Brew, was the only middle option that treated slides “like the category it was,” offering something stylish but durable.

The former president of leading skin care brand True Botanicals, however, wanted to build an alternative to offer consumers another option. With Message, launched this year, she set out to build a brand that was affordable, stylish, and versatile. “‘Can I wear it to yoga, and also with a wide leg trouser, with a slip dress…to the pool, but also with their joggers, and also with a linen pant?’” Higney told Retail Brew. “I really wanted to tackle this idea of style from a versatility perspective.”

Message made its debut in April after years of research and a unique take on sustainability.

Not only is the new brand trying to bridge the gap between luxury and performance footwear, but the products are also made with upcycled wine corks sourced from Portugal.

“When I was in Portugal, and really getting to know the cork industry, [I] fell in love with it because of just how sustainable and…how functional the material is, particularly for shoes, because it’s water resistant, sweat and odor resistant, [and] impact resistant.”

Keep reading here.—JS

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Wanna tap into our unique community of young, hard-to-reach readers (who, btw, are 1.7x more likely to have a household income of $150k+)?

Morning Brew connects brands to our audience through information and inspiration, using our voice to tell your story in our ever-growing newsletters, booming multimedia content, popular events, and so much more.

Our content is smart, never boring, and easy to access, and our audience trusts us to deliver what they need in a way that feels authentic. Picture your brand woven into all that potential. Sound exciting? We think so too.

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President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, a bill to lift the debt ceiling, on Saturday, a move which has major implications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Previously, able-bodied adults aged 18–50 without dependents that did not work at least 20 hours per week could receive SNAP benefits for three months within a 36-month period. The new bill expands these requirements to recipients aged 50–54 without disabilities or dependents through 2030. However, veterans, homeless individuals, and those 18–24 who aged out of foster care are now exempt from these requirements, per the bill.

The White House said it anticipates the number of people subject to these requirements will likely remain about the same given the new exemptions. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that ~750,000 older adults could be impacted by this change and are at risk of losing benefits as a result. A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis released on May 30 found 78,000 people (an increase of 0.2% of SNAP recipients) would gain benefits between 2025 and 2030 due to these changes.

• The CBO report also found the changes will actually boost federal SNAP spending by $2.1 billion from 2023 to 2033.

Retail price: The continuing fight over SNAP comes as pandemic-driven emergency allotments expired in the remaining 35 states in March, cutting $90 per month for the average individual and at least $95 a month per household, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which has also impacted retailers like Kroger and Walmart, as many shoppers now have much less money to spend. Beyond the bill’s impact on consumers, The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), noted the effects it could have on the grocery industry.

Keep reading here.—EC

“Etsy…has reported Scope 3 emissions on its Form 10-Ks since 2019. What’s more, it offsets 100% of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping and packaging, and is working towards reducing those emissions, according to the company,” writes CFO Brew’s Courtney Vien:

Scope 3 emissions are those released by organizations in a company’s value chain, but not by the company itself.

Scope 3 presents reporting challenges; 99% of Etsy’s emissions are Scope 3, Etsy CFO Rachel Glaser told CFO Brew in an email, with emissions from shipping comprising 64% of that category.

Read the whole story here on CFO Brew.

Today’s top retail reads.

Across the metaverse: By now, you’ve seen Apple’s unveiling of its Vision Pro Headset and the ensuing memes, but could it mark the start of a turf war battle between Apple and Meta in the virtual reality space? (CNN)

Brace for impact: Luxury typically does well under tough or uncertain economic conditions, but even those shoppers are pulling back spending, which led Saks’s CEO to let his vendors know how the numbers are looking. (WWD)

Fake out: If it’s felt like a recession has been “looming” for the better part of a year, that’s because some economists assess that’s precisely been the case. (CBS News)

Ready to lead: The Brew’s New Manager Bootcamp can equip you with the tools you need to take your retail career to the next level. Secure your seat here.

The numbers you need to know.

If you pay attention to our Friday Friend or Faux? section, you’ll know that there are some weird and wacky product launches just about every day. But it seems the cream does indeed rise to the top.

Market research firm Circana has released its 28th annual New Product Pacesetters report, detailing the top new product launches in food and beverage and nonfood.

• These were the new products from last year that somehow overcame inflation and consumer demand hurdles to make an impression, bringing in a combined $6.8 billion in sales compared to $6 billion for 2021’s products.

The food and beverage products include Alani Nu, Dr Pepper Zero Sugar, Chick-fil-A sauces, Truly Punch, Truly Margarita Style, Mtn Dew Spark, Tattooed Chef, Red Bull Green Edition, Gatorlyte, and Topo Chico Hard Seltzer.

The nonfood products include BinaxNOW, Flowflex, Downy Light, quip, Dawn Ultra EZ-Squeeze, Mielle, Blue Tastefuls, Crest Whitening Emulsions, Febreze Unstopables Touch, and Huggies Special Delivery.

Chick-fil-A sauces ranked third among food and beverage products and brought in more than $140 million in sales last year. Plus, plant-based food and beverages made $411 million, more than double the number of products and dollar sales than the three years prior.

New healthcare products accounted for $1.8 billion in sales or 55% of all nonfood sales. It was a major bump from the 21% achieved in 2021, which highlights the heightened demand for home healthcare solutions during the pandemic, according to the report.

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

• Gen Z reshapes the home improvement and furniture industries
• E-commerce acceleration platform MikMak gets an upgrade
• Ipsy’s CMO shares the keys to beauty-box success