STORES

Off-Price, On Target

e-CoMmErCe iS tHe FuTUre—except at discount retailers Burlington and Dollar Tree, which announced in earnings calls this week that they’re doubling down on offline stores and new formats. 

Burlington 2.0: Burlington’s upping its long-term store expansion plans from 1,000 locations to as many as 2,000. 100 will open this fiscal year, while 25 will close or relocate. 

• Like it did with its former “Coat Factory” moniker, Burlington completely ditched its website last March. 
• But with winter weather making layers essential, and stimulus payments hitting Americans’ wallets, Q4 sales increased 4% YoY to nearly $2.3 million.

Over the past year, Burlington has been developing more compact 25,000-square-foot stores with slimmer inventories, which helps shore up cash. Its existing locations average 40,000+ sq. ft. 

• The company anticipates a third of 2021 openings will use this smaller format and eventually represent the majority of new stores. 

Dollar for dollar: Dollar Tree will open 600 new locations in 2021, including 200 Family Dollar stores. That’s up from roughly 400 new stores last year.

• To court rural shoppers, Dollar Tree will launch 50 new “combination” stores that offer the best from both chains: Dollar Tree’s assortment of $1 products and Family Dollar’s grocery and essential items, typically under $10.
• The new format, which was piloted in three markets over the last two years, introduces Dollar Tree’s variety to underserved small towns where Family Dollar thrives.

Who needs e-comm, anyway?

Many other retailers, as Retail Brew readers know. Case in point: TJX Companies and its stable of brands (TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods). 

• Temporary store closures, particularly abroad, dropped TJX’s net sales 10.3% YoY in Q4. 
• To better position itself for the future, TJX is launching an e-comm platform this year for HomeGoods, where comparable sales increased 12% in Q4. 

Zoom out: Make no mistake, many retailers are slashing store counts. Even Disney pulled the plug on at least 60 of its stores in an e-comm pivot this week. 

Bottom line: Affordable retailers with a treasure hunt twist have withstood brick and mortar headwinds better than most. The continued easing of store restrictions as shoppers are vaccinated is key to a full rebound.

E-COMM

@ Us Next Time

RIP all the brands’ mentions. Twitter is testing a “Shop” button, TechCrunch reports. 

• In the test first surfaced by social media consultant Matt Navarra, tweets host an item’s product information, price, and purchase button. 
• When users click “Shop,” they’re sent to a brand’s online store. 
• The tool’s meant for organic shopping content, but it could also be deployed as an ad unit, per TechCrunch. 

Threads for threads: Twitter hinted that commerce tools were en route at its investor day last week. The bird app is already a place where shoppers talk about brands (and brands “talk” to each other), so Twitter thinks those @’s can naturally translate to purchases. 

But just like Fleets...only a small, dedicated few regularly participate in social commerce. This year, social commerce will nab just 4.3% of total e-comm sales in the US, per eMarketer.

• While Twitter’s thinkboi population is outsized, its shopping population isn’t. Total Twitter users were flat YoY, per Pymnts, while Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat’s total users grew.

The takeaway: Keep your content teams focused on social platforms with established shopping tools for now. 

SPONSORED BY PAYCOM

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BEAUTY

Smooth Wholesaling Ahead

Of all the hurdles skincare brand Three Ships faced ahead of its latest push into stores, the US-Canada border was one of the biggest.

After a few years in strictly Canadian retailers, Three Ships began a 45-store Whole Foods partnership in Northern California this week. That's on top of a January expansion to 500+ US Target stores.  

Why head stateside? Cofounder Connie Lo told Retail Brew that scale awaited down south. “We know that the way to raise more awareness is in the US,” she said, “because your market is ten times bigger than ours.” 

Formula efficiency: Whole Foods buyers operate by regions, meaning Three Ships has to perform in NorCal before heading nationwide. 

But Lo’s US ambitions are bigger than Whole Foods. “[The way] I see this initial 45-door test is, how well can we prove ourselves as a brand from Canada? And if I can prove myself, can I use that as a case study to pitch other buyers?” 

Expansion ingredients: Lo gave us a candid look at Three Ship’s cross-border expansion playbook and its outlook on future retail partnerships. Click here to read the full Q&A. 

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Saks Fifth Avenue will spin off its website into a sister company.
• Gap plans to close ~100 namesake and Banana Republic stores globally. 
• Chipotle will tie execs’ pay to company-wide performance on sustainability and diversity initiatives.
• DVF closed its in-house rental service.
• Hy-Vee is opening nail salons in some stores.
• Urban Outfitters is testing a paid membership program. 

SPONSORED BY SAILTHRU

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SWAPPING SKUS

Cult brand status doesn’t just belong to stationary bikes, prairie dresses, and sheet pans. Our top reads today go deep on two under-covered labels and their devoted worshippers customers. 

• When the doors to TJ Maxx open at 8am, hunters sprinting to the home goods section are all chasing one thing: Rae Dunn ceramics. (Retail Dive)
• Under-eye mask brand Dieux only opened last September. But it's already accumulated a celebrity following—and an 11,000-person waitlist. (Glossy)

FRIEND OR FAUX?

When putting this section together, we often have to quadruple-check if the real stories are actually fake. Of the four news stories below, can you spot which is the faux?

1. Postmates took a jab at pandemic kitchen fatigue with its new anti-cookbook called “Don’t Cookbook.”  
2. A Chicago artist has made incense holders from the soles of Air Force 1 sneakers. 
3. Japanese brand Mintia has developed breath mints specifically for mask-wearers. 
4. An Arizona-based furniture startup is releasing a book that doubles as a desk, à la Seinfeld. 

Keep reading for the answer. 

ICYMI

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

• Instacart Doubled Its Valuation—Again
• Why DTC Brands Are Launching Diffusion Lines at Target
• David’s Bridal and The Black Tux Enter Store-in-Store Partnership

FRIEND OR FAUX? ANSWER

No, there’s no standing desk book. But the coffee table book was a great idea.