Tinned fish, once typically tucked between the melba toast and canned beets in retirees’ pantries, has become a hot item with Gen Z, thanks to viral social media videos that have sung the praises of sardines and smoked trout from trendy new brands like Fishwife.

Now cottage cheese, whose popularity peaked when it was a dieting staple back when the Bee Gees topped the charts, is enjoying a similar resurgence with younger consumers, driven by some unlikely recipes that blew up on TikTok.

Curd it through the grapevine: A May TikTok video from cookbook author Jake Cohen featuring a recipe for cottage cheese cookie dough (to be eaten uncooked) has garnered 5.9 million views.

Another recipe that has taken hold on TikTok is cottage cheese ice cream, as has the notion of combining it with mustard:

• Videos tagged #cottagecheeseicecream have been viewed 42.3 million times on TikTok, while #cottagecheesecookiedough has 19.2 million views and #mustardandcottagecheese has 14.1 million.
• The #cottagecheese tag has surged to 814.6 million views on TikTok, eclipsing its dairy display case neighbor #sourcream (322.4 million) while still well shy of #yogurt (3.1 billion).

Influencers, rather than brands, are dreaming up many recipes, but brands are capitalizing on the trend. And some are struggling to keep supermarkets stocked.

“The demand is higher than we would have been able to expect at this moment in time,” Arielle Knutson, SVP of marketing at dairy product brand Good Culture, told Retail Brew. “It can be difficult to find Good Culture [cottage cheese]…at retailers but we are hard at work to solve that.”

Keep reading here.—AAN

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Home Depot is still coming down from the highs of the pandemic-era DIY remodeling boom; sales fell 2% year over year in the second quarter, according to the company’s latest earnings report.

The world’s largest home improvement retailer nonetheless beat Wall Street estimates on the back of some positive trends, including sustained consumer spending on smaller projects that offset weakening demand for big-ticket, discretionary items such as appliances and patio furniture.

“Big-ticket [comparable] transactions or those over $1,000 were down 5.5% compared to the second quarter of last year,” Billy Bastek, EVP of merchandising, told investors during an earnings call on Thursday. He added that the decrease came “after three years of unprecedented demand in the home improvement market.”

The flip side of the DIY shift is that larger projects appear to be on hold.

Keep reading here.—AV

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby…in a baby carriage.

Following the introduction of its wedding registry in May, Etsy has now launched a baby registry.

The logic behind Etsy’s baby registry echoes that of its wedding business: In the last six months, people have been searching for “baby item” every second on Etsy, which the company says indicates that shoppers want “alternatives to mass-produced baby and kids items.”

• In the last three months, Etsy has seen “a 270% increase in searches for custom toy boxes, an 80% increase in searches for handmade toys…and a 36% increase in searches for vintage baby clothes” year over year.

“Parents are gravitating towards time-honored pieces to add character to their kids’ space and are prioritizing items made to be passed down and cherished for years to come,” Etsy trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson said in a blog post.

Keep reading here.—KM

Today’s top retail reads.

A long time coming: Next week, former Mattel executive Richard Dickson takes over as Gap’s permanent CEO. His approach to innovation and the customer may be what the apparel brand needs right now. (Retail Dive)

See ya: Amazon recently announced that it would be shutting down a large portion of its private-label business, which largely defined the company’s dominance in the retail space. But a closer examination of the brands shows that many came and went without very little impact. (NY Mag)

Tough times: Target faced backlash this year over its Pride month merchandising, and it’s reflected in the company’s Q2 earnings. (CNN)

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The numbers you need to know.

It’s cool to be in the know and on top of the latest fashion trends, and some unexpected brands seem to be running away with the competition when it comes to fashionable footwear.

Over the past year, running shoes have made their way into mainstream sneaker culture, with brands such as On, Salomon, and Asics becoming some of the fastest growing on StockX.

• An analysis of global trade data from January to June 2023 compared to the same period last year, those brands have seen a 15,357%, 202%, and a 72% increase in YoY trade volume, respectively, according to StockX.
• Although New Balance just missed the top five, it is the only sneaker brand to be among the top 10 fastest-growing and top overall in sales, and StockX says the company is on pace for another record year on its site.

As for shoes, Ugg, Birkenstock, and Crocs have all seen significant growth over the past two years, and show no signs of slowing down, with 836%, 492%, and 26% YoY trade growth, respectively.

• StockX notes that various collabs have elevated the growth trajectory for many of the brands that are seeing the most activity on its site.