DTC

A New Home for Parachute’s Linens ’N Things

Most DTC wholesale partnerships appearing in Retail Brew involve one hyper-specific brand earning a shelf or two at a sprawling big box retailer. This is not one of those partnerships.

After seven years selling its hotel-grade robes and sheets solo, home goods brand Parachute is entering its first major retail partnership, with Crate & Barrel. The key differences?

• Parachute created special editions of its best-selling products for its Crate & Barrel expansion. That way, it can unite its hardcore fans with Crate & Barrel’s wider audience.
• The partnership’s launching in 65 Crate & Barrel stores and on its website. In stores, Parachute items will be staged with Crate & Barrel furniture as a shop-in-shop style experience. 

Partnering is a first for Parachute, but Crate & Barrel CMO Alicia Waters said the retailer typically stitches new collabs a few times per year. 

Timing = impeccable. “We do know that customers are prioritizing their home, and their well-being, especially in the start of a new year,” Parachute CEO and founder Ariel Kaye told Retail Brew. “As a home textiles-focused brand, we bring something new to the Crate & Barrel customer. Certainly they have products like this, but their focus has been other parts of the home.”

There are more than linen closet cleanouts at play: Home goods sales have held steady throughout the pandemic (and maybe not received the industry cred they deserve).  

The touch, the feel, the fabric 

Touch testing may be discouraged in the era of pandemic retail. But Kaye said that some form of IRL component was essential for any partnership between the two brands, even as e-comm grows.

The proof? Activity at Parachute’s 10 stores. “What we've seen is that the customers that are coming in store are very high intent customers,” Kaye said. 

• “It might take time before capacity is what it used to be and where we're seeing the type of foot traffic that we used to. But we think that the customer that is coming in stores is still a really important customer.”
• Those stores have experienced “meaningful sales” since reopening, Kaye told us.

Looking ahead...Kaye said Parachute’s monitoring product sell-through rates across Crate & Barrel's channels, and overall brand awareness, to determine whether the partnership’s a success. 

RESTAURANTS

On the Rebound?

Last year, restaurants tried everything from transforming sidewalks into outdoor dining rooms to becoming delivery-only ghost kitchens to partially offset their pandemic losses. But the National Restaurant Association reports 2020’s challenges still set industry sales growth back to 2014 levels. 

What’s the damage? In the National Restaurant Association’s survey of 6,000 food service operators, it found restaurant sales totaled $659 billion last year. That’s $240 billion lower than the pre-pandemic projection of $899 billion. 

• More than 110,000 dining establishments closed in 2020, either long-term or permanently, eliminating nearly 2.5 million of 12 million industry jobs.
• 87% of full-service restaurant revenues dropped an average of 36% in 2020. 

Many operators are hoping pent-up demand will lead to a rebound in the latter half of 2021, Hudson Riehle, SVP of research at the National Restaurant Association, told CNBC. 

• The group projects 2021 sales will bounce back to $731.5 billion. 

Silver lining: The rate of restaurant openings fell just 4% YoY by Q4 2020, per Yelp. Third quarter openings returned to pre-pandemic levels, thanks to adaptations such as takeout and outdoor dining. Restaurant reopenings in the second half of 2020 could hint at sweeping recoveries for local economies across the US.  

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JEWELRY

Movin' on Up (Market)

Lockdown engagements have given fine jewelry brands—Tiffany included—a surprise sales boost. But LVMH isn’t letting its latest acquisition skate by on pandemic trends or dorm poster film references any longer. 

The polish plan: Weeks after reshuffling Tiffany’s c-suite, LVMH execs are preparing a sweeping revamp of the jeweler’s other facets, reports Reuters. New initiatives include...

• Underused gems. The merchandising mix will incorporate more big ticket items like gold and precious stones. 
• Store splurges. That’ll encompass 1) new locations in Europe and Asia and 2) rehabbing stale stores in the US. 
• 24-carat marketing. Like every legacy brand ever, execs reportedly want to target younger customers. 

The context: LVMH has shelved the concerns that led to a litigious back-and-forth with Tiffany pre-acquisition—at least in public. Tiffany also posted its best-ever holiday sales in Q4, renewing confidence in its potential. 

• But LVMH has much more on its gilded plate. Revenue declined in all segments except its fashion and leather goods divisions in Q4.

What to watch? Whether execs think keepsakes from Tiffany’s prior era are worth preserving. The company’s known to make tough cuts: “If a store doesn’t quite work, they just shut it down,” one source told Reuters. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Walmart is expanding its use of automated fulfillment systems for grocery orders.
• Walgreens appointed a new CEO: Rosalind Brewer, former COO of Starbucks. 
• L’Occitane has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 
• Bloomingdale’s is developing its first small format store, to open this fall.
• Fast, the one-click checkout firm, raised a $102 million Series B. 

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COMMUNITY

It’s time for our segment highlighting the best part of Retail Brew: you, the readers. We’re still accepting self-nominations for 2021, so introduce yourself here. 

Catching up with Vivek Agarwal, founder of swimwear brand Ookioh, makes this writer wish beach season would get here sooner. And that his ideal retail mashup will come to life. See what I mean below. 

How do you describe your job to folks who aren’t in retail? I’m a generalist. I oversee everything—from design and social media strategy to accounting and logistics. I have bootstrapped the company and currently work primarily with freelancers and contractors to do particular bits. My job is to make sure all the pieces work together perfectly, like a Swiss watch.

One thing we can’t guess about your career from LinkedIn: I love real estate site selection. I find the process of zeroing in on a particular land parcel fascinating and have done so for everything from a chain of fitness centers to a student housing project.

Retail accounts everyone should follow: Seed does an excellent job with consumer education, and Rowing Blazers’ rbmoodboard is pure nostalgia.

Your dream retail collab: Target and Aesop. I love both the brands and would love to see an affordable skincare line that would meet both their standards.

SWAPPING SKUS

As the vaccine rollout continues, retailers are determining how they’ll operate when business returns to “normal.” Some experts have made bold predictions on how the landscape will look in the months and years ahead. 

• Many major retailers that presented at this year’s National Retail Federation convention retooled and restructured their digital strategies. What’s making others, like Lululemon and Saks Fifth Avenue, bullish on brick and mortar moving forward? (Pymnts)
• Whether it’s the importance of maintaining cash flow, the prevalence of e-commerce, or the necessity of supply chain agility, retailers face a balancing act between what originally made them successful and what will keep them thriving in a post-pandemic world. (Retail Dive)

ICYMI

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

• Pinterest’s AR Tool Wants to Replace the Beauty Counter
• Athleta Size Expansion Efforts Are More than Marketing
• Overlooked vs. Overhyped: A Look Back at 2020’s Biggest Retail Trends