Many brands sat out their annual tradition of playing April Fools’ pranks in 2020, at the onset of the pandemic.

“When times are good and brands want to show their humor and personality, it can be positive,” Joe Baratelli, EVP and chief creative officer at RPA, a Los Angeles-based ad agency, told Adweek in 2020. “When things are serious, it’s probably not the time to be messing with people.”

But the tradition for companies to punk consumers on April 1 is in full force again, and stretches back decades. Some land and some don’t, but we’re not the Humor Police, so it’s up to you to decide which are which.

Keep reading here.—AAN

Without access to a time machine, we’re all bound to the limits of a 24-hour day. But here’s one way to get valuable time back every day and cut down on snooze-worthy admin work.

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The year is shaping up to be a big one for M&A deals and potential IPOs, particularly within beauty and food and beverage. Just within the last two weeks, a slew of buzzy brands have reportedly started laying the groundwork for potential sales—some with hefty price tags. These are the ones to know:

Rare Beauty: Selena Gomez’s cosmetics brand is mulling a sale or IPO with a valuation of $2 billion, sources told Bloomberg last week. Since its founding in 2020, the brand has gone viral for its hyper-pigmented liquid blushes and emerged as one of the leaders in the celebrity beauty brand craze. It amassed $400 million in net sales annually as of February, per the Business of Beauty, and has hired Goldman Sachs and Raymond James to advise on its potential moves.

Keep reading here.—EC

Comedy is, in part, about the subversion of expectations, so let us just say at the outset: We’re not going to have any goofs, gaffes, or laughs—we’re just getting right into what’s going on in retail this week.

In reopenings: Starting today, Zara owner Inditex will be reopening stores in Ukraine more than two years after the start of Russia’s invasion. The company will start with 20 stores, three of which will be Zaras.

• In 2019, Inditex had 72 locations in Ukraine and 558 in Russia, according to Reuters. The company received approval to sell its Russia business last year to UAE-based Daher Group.
• That agreement left the door open for Inditex to potentially return to the country through franchised locations.

In new hires: Starbucks made changes to its global leadership structure that go into effect today.

Keep reading here.—KM

More sales, more problems? Retail’s on the up and up in 2024, but that’s making the already complicated month-end close process even more . More merchant fees + more reconciliation processes get complex fast—especially when done manually. Fortunately, Trintech’s April 16 webinar on financial close challenges has solutions. Sign up here.