Would you take a brand new pair of free tights in exchange for your old ones? Well, we know we would, and so did the thousands of customers who lined up across activewear brand Athleta’s in-store trade-in activations in NYC, Miami, Dallas, DC, and Chicago earlier this month.

The idea for this “one day only” event was simple: Bring in any pair of leggings from any brand and take home a complimentary new pair of Athleta’s Salutation Stash Tights.

That seemed to have struck a chord with consumers, who numbered close to 2,000 in New York, according to Shannon Damen, Athleta’s head of commerce and experience.

“This is really our best tight…as you think about our desire to make sure that we’re broadening the aperture with consumers that they’re aware of this particular product at different points in time,” Damen told Retail Brew. “We wanted to be able to engage with consumers and just get their thoughts in line and understand…qualitatively what they’re interested in and how they’re engaging.”

Keep reading here.—JS

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Beyond Meat is hoping the fourth time’s the charm. On Wednesday, it unveiled its new Beyond IV Platform, the fourth generation of its Beyond Burger and Beyond Beef, set to hit retailers this spring.

The revamped products feature what the company says is a healthier ingredient list. In an effort to quell consumer concern over the nutritional value of its faux meat, and boost sinking sales, the items, reformulated with avocado oil, now have just 2g of saturated fat per serving, down from 5g in their previous iterations, while also cutting sodium by 20%. The new formulation now also features red lentil and faba beans for added protein and fiber.

• The products are American Heart Association certified and Clean Label Project Certified, the company said.

Some experts have criticized the nutritional value of plant-based meat, particularly due to high fat and sodium content and lack of fiber. On its latest earnings call in November, Beyond Meat founder and CEO Ethan Brown said “the health perception of the category…is the most immediate and important variable to address in order to restore growth.”

Keep reading here.—EC

In one of the biggest financial industry mergers in recent memory, Capital One on Monday announced plans to purchase Discover Financial Services for $35.3 billion—and it’s touting the deal as a potential boon for consumers, small businesses, and merchants.

“It will accelerate the company's long-standing journey to work directly with merchants to leverage its customer base, technology, and data ecosystem to drive more sales for the merchant and great deals for consumers and small businesses,” the bank said in a statement.

Discover would bring its global payment network of 70 million merchant acceptance points across 200+ countries and territories. Capital One, meanwhile, had $348.4 billion in deposits and $478.5 billion in total assets at the end of 2023.

“This is a very big deal,” Chris Uriarte, a payments expert and partner at consulting firm Glenbrook Partners, told Retail Brew. “From a credit/debit cards perspective, Capital One can now create a more ‘closed loop’ environment, similar to how American Express operates.”

Keep reading here.—AV

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