BEAUTY

Culture shock

Since introducing its new marketplace in March, Hudson’s Bay has been adding partners left and right—from Poppy Barley to Forever 21 to Epicure Linen. One new name: Pure Culture Beauty.

The personalized beauty startup, which debuted in September, decided to team up with the Canadian department store earlier this month for its first retail partnership. Cofounders Joy Chen and Victor Casale told Retail Brew why. 

“Customization is still relatively new when it comes to retail activation,” Chen said. “We really wanted a partner that actually had a little bit of a high touch point, and we believed that the brick and mortar aspect of Hudson’s Bay is going to be important, as well as online.” 

• Pure Culture Beauty’s products are featured in the marketplace, though customers are directed to its own website to complete their skincare tests.
• Pop-up shops inside Hudson’s Bay stores are planned for the fall. 

Let’s get physical: Chen added that partnering with Hudson’s Bay was appealing, since Canada isn’t “as daunting a market as other markets,” plus, that IRL space is important.

• The pop-ups are a chance to learn how to best explain the customization process to customers, as opposed to just letting them pull products off a shelf.
• Pure Culture Beauty said they’ll also learn whether a permanent location inside Hudson’s Bay will be viable in the future.

A new era

Hudson’s Bay's marketplace is a bid to attract new customers, as it ventures into categories it never offered before—at a faster pace than wholesale (though that means less of the profits per sale).

• Hudson’s Bay President and CEO Iain Nairn told WWD it gives brands access to a portal with “a template on how to load their products on the site...they could get a whole page, and can also choose to be featured in certain places or with headers.”  
• Hudson’s Bay's goal is to have 1,000+ brands by the end of the year. 

“There's a lot of retailers out there that just want to sign you up and sell your product for as little effort as possible. Whereas [Hudson’s Bay] actually gets us support,” Casale said.—KM

SUSTAINABILITY

Top of mind

We have plant-based meat, plant-based milk, even plant-based makeup. Now, we have a plant-based bra. 

Well, bra cups, to be exact.

Kindly, a new sustainable brand by intimates manufacturer Gelmart, introduced the first-of-its-kind product at Walmart yesterday. 

“This new brand is about sustainable solutions at accessible price points,” Gelmart CEO Yossi Nasser told Retail Brew. “We can really make an impact because we're partnering with the largest retailer in the world.”

• Priced from $11–$14, the line is available in 3,500 stores and online. 

Why now? Well, for one, Walmart asked. Three years ago, the big-box retailer challenged Gelmart, a longtime partner, to create a collection of affordable, sustainable intimates. It was the push the consolidated industry needed. 

Previously, "there was no incentive,” Nasser said. “That enhances more complacency.”

Another reason: Bras are complex, made from 25+ pieces. “It's not just one or two fabrics, one or two materials, one or two components,” Nasser said. “That's why it's been difficult, the complicated and technical nature of making a bra.”

• Kindly tried several different materials—from “vertical fiberfill material” to algae foam—before landing on sturdy Brazilian sugarcane, which can “support larger sizes.” 
• It took nearly 30 tries to get the collection ready, yet Kindly knows it has more to do.

Looking ahead: The cup isn’t 100% plant-based yet, but over 80% is a pretty good starting point. Also top of mind? Waterless dyeing...and making all bra parts sustainably, Eve Bastug, Gelmart’s chief product officer, told us.—JG

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The world of retail has certainly changed lately, but the holiday season still reigns supreme. E-commerce and multichannel shopping are likely to dominate this year, and competition is fierce. So personalization is a must. 

Download Lexer’s retail holiday guide here and be ready when the holiday season hits. 

M&A

Homeward bound

Shutterfly is coming home. The photo personalization company snapped up Spoonflower, a custom home decor marketplace, yesterday for approximately $225 million—as it looks beyond images. 

Picture perfect: Shutterfly has been building its home decor business for the last five years with items like photo blankets, pillows, coasters, kitchen linens, and more. It’s now one of the company’s fastest-growing categories.

“As we looked toward the future of personalized products, we knew we needed to expand the aperture of what you can discover, make, and buy on our platform,” Shutterfly President Jim Hilt told Retail Brew. 

“[We saw] the value of home to our customers and the importance of giving them the tools and the products that allowed them to make it theirs.”

• Shutterfly’s 21 million customers will gain access to Spoonflower’s custom, artist-designed wallpaper and fabrics. 
• Meanwhile, Spoonflower and its 3.3+ million designers get to scale up.

Get creative: The $2.25 trillion creative economy is a good place to be—especially for a company that’s reportedly in talks to go public (again). Which reminds us: We should make some SPAC-inspired merch.—JG

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING…

• Consumer prices were up 5.4% YoY in July, according to the US Labor Department. 
• Impossible Foods’s meatless sausage can now be found in grocery stores.
• Hudson’s Bay Co.’s new venture with WeWork will turn sections of its department stores—including some Saks Fifth Avenue locations—into coworking hubs. 
• Fanatics is valued at $18 billion after raising $325 million from investors such as Jay-Z and Roc Nation.
• Boston Beer and PepsiCo are partnering on a hard version of Mountain Dew.

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SWAPPING SKUS

Today’s top retail reads. 

Shelf life: A look at the ethnic aisle across American grocery stores—and whether it’s even needed. (The New York Times)

Clean bill of health: Dollar General has its sights set on healthcare. Experts say it’s got three paths to success. (Insider) 

Slack off: Protocol staffers join the debate: Is Walmart a tech company? (Protocol)

COMMUNITY

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew's readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Dan Rosenzweig, a WeWork alum, cofounded coworking platform KettleSpace in 2016—focusing on connecting remote employees with work-friendly restaurants and hotels, before WFH was standard practice. But he’s using this space to tell us more.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile: When I'm scouting new hosts, I average seven miles of walking per day.

What's your favorite project you've worked on? KettleSpace partnered with NYU to provide Covid-compliant study space for students in local hotels and restaurants near campus, creating more than $500,000 in support for small businesses. 

One retail trend you’re excited about: Ghost kitchens allowing restaurants to uniquely brand each section of their menu.

Your favorite brand to follow? Totino's Pizza Rolls.

Hands down, the best fast food restaurant chain is...Cheesecake Factory. So many good options, and the portions are truly American.

ICYMI

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

• Etsy sellers eye a new hot accessory: vaccine card holders
• Newell Brands, the company behind Elmer’s and Sharpie, preps for a hands-on school year
• Mobile commerce sales will double to $700+ billion by 2025: eMarketer