2PM - Yellow and Blue

Historic Retail Sanctions / 2PM Original: We are accustomed to stories of wartime sabotage. Bridges are blown, airfields are destroyed, and transport trucks incapacitated. But those were acts by armed forces. What we are witnessing now is the disruption of trade instigated by corporate boardrooms, not military war rooms. It’s beginning to have an effect.

2PM Data: This is but a snapshot of the companies that have closed stores in recent weeks. Dozens of other top brands have joined in doing the same.

Birkenstock: inside a $5b billion brand

Brands / Financial Times: Johann Adam Birkenstock was making shoes in the basement of a German church before the United States was a country. This is just a spectacular perspective on the slowest growing generational brand. More: "In its 248-year history, the orthopaedic-looking-shoe brand founded by Johann Adam Birkenstock has transformed from a family business plagued by infighting and efficiency squabbles into a global sandal sensation that last year went into partnership – for $4.87bn – with private equity firm L Catterton, a company created in part by Bernard Arnault and his family’s holding company, Financière Agache."

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The shopping-mall legacy of a mid-century sculptor

Experiential Retail / Bloomberg: The legacy of Victor Gruen lives on in new ways. It's worth your time to learn about the father of the mall and how art was central to his original vision. More here: "They were only re-discovered — by a mayor, no less — after the Detroit suburb of Southfield acquired many of those pieces at an auction in 2015, along with the 100-acre shell of Northland, an early shopping center designed by Victor Gruen Associates in the 1950s. 

Amazon is closing all 68 of its physical stores

Retail Real Estate / The Verge: This was surprising news when I first read it but Verge did a wonderful job  of breaking down the reasons why Amazon is doing away with some of its physical retail experiments. More here: "Amazon’s retail ambitions have largely felt like small-scale trials compared to the massive scale of its online operations. And, as CNBC reports, the company’s physical locations have performed far worse than its digital storefront in recent years. Amazon isn’t exiting brick-and-mortar stores entirely. The company will continue to operate its Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods grocery stores, as well as its Amazon Go convenience stores (with their unique cashier-less model). 

Taylor Lorenz discusses journalism branding controversy

New Media / LA Times: On March 2, Business Insider published a story about top New York Times reporters “eyeing jobs elsewhere where they get more money and autonomy.” It specifically highlighted “influencer journalists” who desire to expand their reach through projects separate from the newsroom. Social media users widely commented on a quote from Los Angeles-based tech reporter Taylor Lorenz, who recently left the New York Times for the Washington Post. 

Ear-piercing brand Studs talks social media strategy

DTC Brands / Morning Brew: Bubbers explained that people often get piercings “based on milestones.” One YouTuber had gone through a divorce. Bubbers mentioned that Studs sees piercing appointments around break-ups, birthdays, bachelorette parties, and graduations, and that these customer “stories” are harder to tell in an Instagram Reel or a TikTok.

Inflation and inventory delays weighed on apparel retailers' fourth-quarter earnings

Retail Data / Modern Retail: Apparel revenue for many retailers and brands grew in the fourth quarter: year-over-year, sales at Macy’s, Tapestry, Nordstrom and Farfetch were up between 4% and 28%. However, two-year growth was middling: up only single digits at companies like Macy’s and down at Kohl’s and Nordstrom. For many, inflation and inventory delays slowed sales.

Malls in the afterlife

Sociology / The American Conservative: Redevelopment will be high on the priority list for many real estate companies, but it may not be best for cities. These structures already exist, and the properties are depreciated enough that independent businesses could afford them. What small towns need is more creativity and less chain retail. One solution may be for malls to go back to the past.

Shopify doubles down on 'pay isn't everything' approach

Compensation / The Information: Shopify has historically offered low base salaries, in line with Canadian nontech firms, an approach that has been offset by stock awards whose value has soared as the company’s stock rocketed. But a plunge in the stock price lately has slashed the value of recent stock grants, unsettling employees.

There is a 1988 advertisement by Philip Morris that describes the enriched flavor of a brand of cigarettes. It called it a solution with Merit. It begins: “If you can’t join ’em, beat ’em.”

Bolt’s former CEO Ryan Breslow felt slighted by Shopify executives; he’s taken it personally. Now, what appeared to be just a fiery Twitter thread looks more like a strategy backed by Bolt’s board. If you can’t join Shopify in owning the market, beat them by joining its de facto rival. BigCommerce is a platform with distinct philosophical differences. For Bolt, an enemy of an enemy is a friend.

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