We came. We saw. We got some tchotchkes at the trade show. (Can you ever really have enough branded pens?) And now, after the curtain closed on the NRF 2022 Big Show yesterday, we have some takeaways.

Opportunity for everybody: Even if the second day of the conference didn’t fall on MLK Day, diversity, equity, and inclusion would have topped the agenda.

James Fripp, chief equity and inclusion officer at Yum! Brands, told attendees that if retailers aren’t worried about doing enough, then they probably aren’t: “If you don’t get a little bit scared about not being diverse, then you’re not going to be relevant,” he said.

Appearing on the same panel—titled Making DE&I Personal—Sharon Leite, CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe, shared that she’ll be featured on the reality show Undercover Boss this month. Going incognito in her stores gave her new appreciation for the challenges her employees face.

“In that experience,” she began, “I got to learn not only what they had to deal with at work, but what they were dealing with at home, how that made them who they are, [and] what that meant in terms of engagement with the customer.”

In his keynote, Walmart US President and CEO John Furner urged retailers to be unwavering about committing to better representation, and to be transparent about their progress. Walmart, for its part, issues annual reports, like one in 2021 that found:

• 47% of US associates were POC, up from 43% in 2019.
• 46% of those promoted to management were women, up from 43% in 2019.

Workers are so boss: Lowe’s managed to stay open throughout the pandemic, closing only on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Since Covid struck, it has hired almost 100,000 workers and paid nearly $1 billion in incremental bonuses and incentives for frontline hourly associates.

“As we think about what we need to be as a company, it’s been really simple,” CEO Marvin Ellison, who appeared via video, said in a keynote address. “We want to take care of associates and be the best workplace we can be.”

Also appearing for a keynote via video, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said that with workers skedaddling for other opportunities, retailers must show them they can move up—without moving on.

“They ask, ‘What is my career path? What are my benefits? What does my development look like?’” she said. “So how do I offer this suite of things to my employees that will help them stay sticky to me as a company?”

• Best Buy, for example, gave bonuses to hourly workers in 2021: $500 for full-timers, $200 for part-timers.

Click here to read more of our takeaways from NRF’s Big Show.—AAN

Welcome to the metaverse: Make yourselves comfortable, we might be here for a while. Last week, we reported on Gap and Selfridges entering the world of digital assets. Now, we have two more newcomers—Ralph Lauren and Walmart. Yes, the blockchain shopportunities are too seductive for fashion houses and big-box players alike to resist.

Building blocks: Walmart is laying the foundation for its metaverse entry. Seven filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office show the company’s plans to create its own cryptocurrency and a collection of NFTs. The new trademark applications from December indicate forthcoming virtual goods in the electronics, home decor, toys, sporting goods, and personal care categories.

• This all points to a future that allows consumers to use and manage virtual currency.

Ralph Lauren, on the other hand, is diving headfirst into the metaverse. President and CEO Patrice Louvet didn’t leave room for idle speculation during his NRF panel, where he announced the company’s commitment to virtual reality and claimed the brand had already sold 100,000 pieces of digital clothing to outfit avatars.

Casting a wide net: Louvet was also very clear about Ralph Lauren’s motives—to attract Gen Z. “First and foremost, it’s an opportunity to engage with mostly younger customers,” he said.

• Consumers can buy Ralph Lauren’s digital apparel for a few dollars and virtually visit the company’s Madison Avenue flagship. The retailer is even thinking about buying real estate in the metaverse.

Louvet added that Ralph Lauren himself, now 82 and skyping weekly with Louvet, has always said that the brand is “not a fashion company,” but rather in “the dreams business.”

The challenge: Younger generations see little distinction between “online and offline, physical and digital,” Ryan Mullins, analyst and CEO of the mobile shopping game Aglet, said in a recent interview—so retailers need to “start thinking of [their] brand as a persistent, ongoing, real-time world.” In other words, the metaverse never rests. And if your brand exists in that digital sphere, he suggests, it should follow its rules.—JG

Ikea says its climate goals are on track despite some supply-chain speed bumps, according to its 2021 Sustainability Report released yesterday.

By the numbers: Emissions rose by ~6% YoY, from 24.7 million metric tons to 26.2 million tons of CO2 equivalent, due to an increase in materials used—though they were still down ~6.1% from pre-pandemic levels. But the climb wasn’t a surprise to the company: Emissions fell in 2020 when its stores were temporarily shuttered, but rebounded in tandem with sales, which jumped 5.8% to €41.9 billion in 2021.

The retailer wants to reduce GHG emissions by 15% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

• It’s one-third of the way there, lowering its footprint ~5.8% since 2016, when it started measuring progress. (Emissions totaled 27.8 million tons then.)

Material impact: A major priority on Ikea’s list is establishing a “circular business,” using only renewable or recycled materials. Last year, 56% of materials used were renewable, while 17% were recycled materials. In November, it also made the pledge to phase out plastics by 2028.

• It’s been extending the lifespan of products through refurbishment and buy-backs, and even produced a limited-edition sofa cover made from reused Mud Jeans.
• Reusability has recently gained traction across the retail industry, whether through underwear recycling or refill stores.

Still, the climate footprints for its stores, transportation, and materials, have yet to “head in the right direction.” Materials are the “largest and most complex” piece of the climate puzzle, Ikea said, with its material climate footprint up 15% YoY.

• Sustainable materials like low-emission steel or recycled aluminum or polyester can also be pricey, Ikea noted, and if they’re affordable, they’re often in limited supply.

Looking ahead…New materials will require “innovation and upscaling” before they’ll make a notable mark on its footprint, Ikea said. The company plans to focus on responsible forest management and using more paper packaging going forward.

“The coming year presents many challenges, including the lingering effects of the pandemic, especially the impact on vulnerable groups and increasing inequalities,” Lena Pripp-Kovac, Chief Sustainability Officer, Inter Ikea Group, said in a statement. “This makes us even more determined to speed up our work.”—EC

Today’s top retail reads.

Updating: Years in the making, here’s how Vans brought its merchandising process into the digital age. (Modern Retail)

Make it fun: Nigo, the new creative director at Kenzo, shares his vision for the brand. “I feel that quite a lot in fashion at the moment is boring, and that fashion shows have kind of compensated in a way by hyping up the spectacle element as a distraction from the clothes,” he said. “I would like to reconnect with the sense of excitement that can come just from fashion itself.” (WWD)

All in the delivery: How Gopuff is trying to pitch its model as “more Amazon than Uber.” (Axios)

Deal? Deal. That’s how quickly OpenStore can make an offer on your e-commerce business—so find out how much your biz is worth now, after you blew the holiday season out of the water. OpenStore will make an offer in just 24 hours—check your OpenStore value right here.*

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Brandon Read is an assistant marketing manager at Fruit of the Loom, where he helps get the goods into the hands of retailers—including Amazon, JCPenney, Kohls, Target, and Walmart. But we’ll let him brief you on more of the deets of his role.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I connect the product development to the sales pitch. Ever wonder how those super innovative products make their way to the store and ask yourself, “Who thinks of this stuff?” Well, that’s my team.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile: I spend a lot of time in meetings and analyzing data. Having concrete evidence to support your claim really helps to push through your ideas.

What's your favorite project you’ve worked on? I love seeing new product launches come to life. We have a new program called Crafted Comfort that I was a part of, ideating around the white space and selling it in at various retailers.

My team saw a need for a comfortable, yet durable garment that could be delivered to the market at a great value that our customers are accustomed to. We validated it with consumers through research and worked extensively on the packaging and imagery to make sure we were telling the story we wanted to.

Name an emerging retail trend that you’re most excited about: Seeing adaptive apparel and more inclusive products play a bigger role in the total market. This has been an underserved customer for a long time.

Hands down, the best fast food restaurant chain is…Zaxby’s.

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

• Why NRF is taking the metaverse very seriously
• Parade introduces underwear recycling program
• Non-alcoholic beverages seek a new frontier this year: retail doors