When Karin Dillie joined Recurate, which partners with brands to build their resale programs, as VP of partnerships in 2021, she was coming off a four-year stint as an executive at The RealReal and had been at Sotheby’s for five years before that, so she had some strong opinions about used products. But perhaps the strongest was that those goods should not be referred to as “used” in Recurate’s marketing.

“It just sounds like something dirty,” Dillie, who today is head of sellers at electronics reseller Back Market, told Retail Brew. “A ‘used’ tissue is done; you’re not going to engage with that tissue again.”

Most of Recurate’s partners are clothing brands, and “the connotation of something dirty is not what you want people to think about when they’re buying something they’re going to put…on their body,” Dillie explained.

It would be hard to overstate the magnitude of growth of the resale market. In the US, the growth of the resale sector outpaced the overall retail sector by 7x in 2023, and will hit $73 billion by 2028, according to ThredUp’s latest annual resale report.

But as the industry gets more established, it has yet to settle on a single term for its merchandise. If, as Dillie contends, “used” is tainted, should they instead call their offerings, as many do, “pre-owned,” “pre-loved,” or “secondhand”?

Keep reading here.—AAN

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Sephora is, for many consumers, synonymous with beauty—and for feeding into our their desires to keep up with the latest trends, from red blush to bronzing drops.

It has also become a go-to for workers in the LGBTQ+ community. Sephora’s VP of DE&I George-Axelle Broussillon Matschinga recently told HR Brew how the company’s benefits and culture have helped it achieve LGBTQ+ representation that’s nearly twice the national rate.

Barriers to employment. While the majority of Fortune 500 companies have policies that protect against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, 41% of US workers who identify as LGBTQ+ still face discrimination at work, according to a recent Randstad report. They’re also more likely to be unemployed or underemployed and earn less than non-LGBTQ+ workers.

A fall survey from Out and Equal, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ+ inclusion at work, found that roughly one-quarter of LGBTQ+ workers said they’ve heard jokes about their community at work. This may be part of why just one-half are comfortable disclosing their sexuality or gender identity to colleagues, Randstad found.

However, employers that make a concerted effort to improve LGBTQ+ inclusion may have more success recruiting and retaining talent from the community, according to EY’s 2024 LGBTQ+ workplace barometer.

Sephora’s approach. Of Sephora’s 22,000 workers across 500 US stores, 14% identify as LGBTQ+, as compared to 7.8% of US adults overall. The company prides itself on the way in which it has woven inclusion into all aspects of its business, from the messaging on its website to the diversity depicted on its social media. It was named a leader in LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation this year.

Broussillon Matschinga told HR Brew that while her team of DE&I practitioners sits within the HR function, the company inclusion is a business-wide effort.

Keep reading here on HR Brew.—KP

Two companies are celebrating their anniversaries this week, and they’re posting some pretty impressive numbers. 7-Eleven is celebrating its 97th anniversary with its annual Slurpee Day promotion, and Ace Hardware is celebrating a sales event honoring its 100th anniversary.

Here’s what else is going on in retail this week:

In sales events: Amazon’s Prime Day is next week on July 16–17, but some of the e-commerce giant’s biggest rivals are beating it to the punch this week. Target Circle Week kicked off on Sunday and is running until Saturday, with deals on both everyday items and back-to-school essentials for members of its free-to-join Circle program. It’s also offering a 50% discount on its new paid subscription program. Walmart, meanwhile, is holding its “largest deals event ever” from Monday to Thursday, with discounts on thousands of items from categories such as toys, electronics, and back-to-school.

In lobbying: The National Retail Federation is hosting a fly-in lobby day for members to support the passage of the Food Traceability Enhancement Act in Congress. The bill would delay the implementation of the FDA’s new Food Traceability Rule, which establishes recordkeeping requirements for food producers that are designed to more rapidly identify and remove contaminated foods from the market. The Food Industry Association says the rule is “overly complex and must be fixed,” while food safety advocates are urging Congress to vote against any delays or changes to the rule.

In events: On Thursday, Klarna is hosting a webinar read-through of its report, “Rep Her: Revealing the Unmet Demand for Women’s Sports Merchandise.” The financial services company estimates women’s athletic gear is a $4 billion market with significant unmet demand. The report will also look at gender-based imbalances in sports fan communities, and highlight Klarna’s own efforts to make sports merchandise available to women through its partnership with media and commerce company Togethxr.

In earnings: Aritzia will release its Q1 financial results on Thursday. The “everyday luxury” apparel company had a strong Q4, with revenue rising 7% YoY and a forecast projecting more growth in fiscal 2025, including 20%–25% square footage growth.

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