Hey Friends,
The U.S. retail and food services sales for July 2023 were $696.4 billion, up 0.7% from June, and up 3.2% above July 2022. Here’s what you should know:
The Good
Online retailers - 1.9% increase
Sporting goods and related stores - 1.5% increase
Foodservice - 1.4% increase
Gas Stations - .4% increase
The Bad
Furniture sales - 1.8% decrease
Electronics and Appliance Stores - 13% decrease
Tapestry Inc., the fashion conglomerate behind Coach, has reached an agreement to acquire Capri in a deal worth $8.5B. Capri, who currently owns Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Cho will create a single conglomerate to compete with LVMH, set to generate over $12B in annual revenue.
In some Amazon news….
Amazon continues to dominate the beauty space, leading across all 11 categories and gaining market share in most areas, according to Euromonitor International, attributed to its strategy of low price, variety, and efficient logistics.
In a continued effort to scale back, Amazon has announced that it will reduce its private brand offering to less than 20 in total. This effort, Amazon cited, is aimed at fending of antitrust scrutiny and improve its cost vs. profit position. While Amazon brands, have been overall successful in the grocery space, furniture and clothing have faced headwinds in recent years. At it’s peak, Amazon offered 158,000 private label products spread across 45 brands in the Amazon store, not to mention some private brand products sold by its online grocery store, Amazon Fresh.
In some other grocery news….
With the recent addition of Alaska to its service area, Instacart has become the first and only online grocery marketplace to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in all 50 states and Washington D.C. 42 million can now use the benefits to buy groceries online via Instacart in every state.
Aldi announced this week to buy Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket, adding 400 grocery stores across Southeast to it’s footprint.
And to finish with some final tidbits of retail news….
Resale company Trove raises $30 million in Series E funding. Trove is leading the resale revolution with scalable branded recommerce solutions that extend the life of millions of products, creating more inclusive, less wasteful business. The company, which works with retailers including Canada Goose, Lululemon and REI, has landed $150 million in funding since its inception.
Radio Flyer to open first store this fall. The 106-year-old brand, known for its red wagons, is set to open its first store this November in Chicago where the company is headquartered.