APPAREL

Another Yes to the Sweats

The world of workout from home has another player. Summersalt, founded as a swimwear brand, released its first activewear collection yesterday. 

• Summersalt’s spin on spin gear includes a collaboration with footwear brand APL and recycled materials.
• The launch was announced to some customers with a waitlist, but the brand declined to share sign-up figures.

The strategy: Co-founders Lori Coulter and Reshma Chattaram Chamberlin told Retail Brew that leaving the lap lane was always Summersalt’s plan: “If anything though, quarantine has expedited the introduction of Summersalt’s activewear line as there has been such a massive, universal shift in dressing behavior,” they said in an email.  

As for bringing the line to market now, Coulter and Chattaram Chamberlin said they were able to “pivot manufacturing quickly” with the help of production partners outside China—circumventing the early spring shutdowns.

Athleisure for all? 

Activewear and athleisure have been quarantine winners for apparel brands, even the ones that call a single black legging a “collection.” Some examples:

• Athleta was the only Gap-owned brand whose sales increased last quarter.
• Athleticwear sales roughly doubled at Asos last quarter, and CEO Nick Beighton said it could have increased its inventory buy.

But doubling down isn’t for everyone. “To truly build activewear as a lasting category, brands must seek to solve a problem for their customers that others are ignoring,” Rebekah Kondrat, founder at Kondrat Retail, told me. “It also needs to fit into the larger brand story and ethos in order for customers to buy into the product.” 

• In Summersalt’s case, Kondrat said the brand’s “body inclusivity and ‘for women, by women’ mantra can be a huge differentiator.” 
• Other recent examples: By taking a similarly inclusive stance, Aerie has won over Gen Z shoppers (and become AEO’s star brand). Nike’s move into maternity activewear also addressed an underserved category while playing to brand strengths.

My takeaway: Customer research and competitive analysis should guide brands that are tempted to turn a quarantine trend into a brand pillar...not just the trend’s existence.

WORKFORCE

The Layoff Wave Returns

After weeks of not writing the words “slashing headcount” in Retail Brew, staffing updates from two major players left me no choice. 

Brookfield Properties will cut around 20% of its 2,000 retail division employees, CNBC reports. The mall owner may have saved JCPenney from liquidating, but that was an exception to the storefront norm:

• Brookfield collected only a third of retail tenants’ rent during the last quarter.
• The company told employees reducing staff reflects the “future scale of our portfolio.” 

Ralph Lauren will lay off 15% of its global workforce (around 3,700 employees) by next March. CEO Patrice Louvet told Bloomberg it had already planned to shrink its team as part of an e-commerce oriented overhaul; two straight quarters of sales shrink convinced it to act faster. I hope the Bitmoji are worth it.

My takeaway: The “wait and see” approach to pandemic downsizing has a deadline. Without a complete retail sales rebound, companies that avoided layoffs or furloughs in the spring may have to implement them soon.

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E-COMM

Allbirds Dabbles in SNKRS Culture

The App Store now stocks one-third of the Silicon Valley uniform: Allbirds launched its first standalone shopping app yesterday.

The company's new nest will look familiar to sneakerheads. Allbirds’s app will host exclusive product drops and virtual try-on features, along with an option to select where carbon offsets from purchases are applied.

Zoom out: Drops on larger retailers’ sneaker apps (like Nike or Goat) put the hype in hyperbole. Exclusive, limited edition footwear styles can disappear in seconds.

Allbirds has released a designer collab here and there, but it’s better known for comfort than streetwear cred. Plus, Allbirds already has its website and Shopify’s Shop app. So why go it alone?

• Third party platforms can only do so much. “Shopify continues to be a very important partner, but as a vertical retailer, we understand the importance of providing unique, brand-aligned experiences for our customers,” an Allbirds rep told Retail Brew. 
• As e-commerce grows in popularity, an Allbirds app could complement what shoppers used to find in its stores.

My prediction: App users get a first look at Allbirds’s ongoing project with Adidas...and more ambitious exclusives than new colorways.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Walmart plans to hire 20,000 seasonal workers for the holidays.
• Nike reported online sales jumped 82% last quarter. 
• Mirakl, a French e-commerce startup, is now valued at $1.5 billion.
• Bed Bath & Beyond will close 63 stores this year.
• Amazon did not actually partner with Echelon Fitness for a Prime-only stationary bike.
• Four former eBay employees will plead guilty to participating in a cyberstalking campaign.

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RSVP

What’s your connection to the world of apparel?

A. I work for a clothing brand

B. I used to work for a clothing brand

C. I get dressed in the morning

If A, B, or C includes you, register for Retail Brew’s next event on Monday. Forrester principal analyst Sucharita Kodali will bring the industry-wide expertise; Rhone CEO Nate Checketts will bring the athleticwear insights; I’ll bring the leggings jokes. 

But for real: We’re having a deep conversation about the present and future of apparel retail you won’t want to miss. RSVP for our next event here, and forward the invite to a friend who should tune in.

NOW TRENDING

There are more rivalries in retail than in a CW teen drama: Dunkin’ vs. Starbucks, Costco vs. Sam’s Club, newly bankrupt retailers vs. my skepticism.

A recent development in an ongoing retail battle made me wonder which company’s product is trending better with consumers. So I used Google Trends to chart the 90-day search history for two rival products.

Google Trends

Which retail product face-off is represented by the red and blue lines above? Here’s a hint: I’ve covered it in this newsletter. Keep reading for the answer.

SWAPPING SKUS

Love 'em, hate 'em, or pretend to hate 'em but secretly love 'em, discounts are everywhere this time of year. As I get ready to share results from our inaugural Black Friday/Cyber Monday markdown survey (), I found these takes on discount strategies worth a read. 

• This article answers a question I ask every time I order online: Why do so many brands offer a 10%–15% discount on the customer’s first purchase? (Glossy)
• Prime Day 2020 predictions: Fewer promotions and slower shipping, but still a massive purchasing event. (NBC News)

ICYMI

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

• After the Nap Dress Surged, Hill House Home Needed to Adapt
• Walmart x TikTok: It’s Mostly Official
• Fast Fashion Brands Are Bouncing Back

NOW TRENDING ANSWER

The red line represents searches for Amazon Prime. The blue line represents searches for Walmart Plus.