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It\u2019s been another week with far more retail news than there is time in the day. Below, we break down some things you may have missed during the week, and what we\u2019re still thinking about.<\/p>\n
From J. Jill\u2019s new trade-in program to PetSmart\u2019s ode to the Paris Olympics, here\u2019s our closeout for the week.<\/p>\n
What you may have missed<\/h3>\n J. Jill wants you to choose<\/em><\/p>\nJ. Jill on Tuesday launched an apparel trade-in experience, dubbed \u201cYou Choose,\u201d where women can bring in gently worn clothing in exchange for J. Jill styles. Participants can receive a $100 J. Jill gift card, a necklace and a prepaid mailing envelope to send in their clothing, according to a press release. Apparel will be donated to the nonprofit Bottomless Closet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You Choose is available on a first-come, first-serve basis and is part of the retailer\u2019s latest One Wardrobe, No Limits campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe You Choose experience is that spark of inspiration to help women test out something new and find inspiration and excitement in a closet that fulfills the versatility, comfort and style that she deserves,\u201d Elliot Staples, creative director of J. Jill, said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pottery Barn and Westin partner on a home capsule collection<\/em><\/p>\nPottery Barn on Tuesday announced a product collaboration with Westin Hotels &\u00a0Resorts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Products in the collaboration include bedroom furniture, bedding and bath accessories. Items will be featured in Westin hotel rooms and are available for purchase on both company\u2019s respective websites.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
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\nCourtesy of Pottery Barn<\/p>\n
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\u201cPottery Barn has been working with Westin for over 10 years as an exclusive home furnishings partner for the Heavenly mattress, and our new home furnishings collection provides the restorative and relaxing Westin experience designed for your home,\u201d Pottery Barn President Monica Bhargava said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A ruff first month for Bark Air<\/em><\/p>\nBark Air, the newly launched dog airline from online pet retailer Bark, has already had its first lawsuit filed and settled within its first month of business. The pet retailer\u2019s newest venture, which is made possible through a partnership with a jet charter company, calls itself the \u201cworld\u2019s first air travel experience designed specifically for dogs first.\u201d<\/p>\n
The flights are designed so dogs don\u2019t have to fly in the cargo hold and include features like noise-canceling ear muffs, calming treats and a Bark Air concierge to help dogs get used to the environment. At launch, the program included flights to Westchester County Airport in New York, Van Nuys airport in Los Angeles and Stansted Airport in London. Bark Air sent its first flight out on May 23 from New York \u2014 and had its first lawsuit waiting a week later.<\/p>\n
Westchester County sued the retailer and its partner, Talon Air, saying Bark Air violated its regulations requiring aircrafts with more than nine passenger seats to fly out of the main terminal. The case was settled on Monday, and Bark noted in the settlement that it has not sold more than nine passenger seats on any of its flights leaving or arriving at that airport and will notify the county if it does.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the thinking on dog flights anyway?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe this initiative will raise awareness of Bark\u2019s mission in a cost-effective manner,\u201d Bark Chief Financial Officer Zahir Ibrahim said in a statement when the initiative was announced. \u201cGiven we are not committed to booking flights far in advance, we have a lot of flexibility to opportunistically charter flights during times of high demand. In parallel, we believe the additional traffic to Bark.co will raise awareness of our full offering, benefiting our core business in the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n
Retail therapy<\/h3>\n Cold Stone adds Minion-yellow ice cream for Despicable Me 4 release<\/em><\/p>\nThe minions have taken over Cold Stone Creamery, with the company\u2019s newest ice cream lineup announced Wednesday. With the upcoming release of Despicable Me 4 in theaters next month, the ice cream shop added a Despicamallow<\/span> Ice Cream flavor, a Mega Minion Marshmallow Meltdown dessert creation and a Heist Cream Cake available to order.<\/p>\n\n\n
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\nCourtesy of Cold Stone Creamery<\/p>\n
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The layered cake features an image of Mega Jerry the minion and the ice cream treats can be ordered in a special edition Mega Jerry cup. The limited-time offerings are available through July 30.<\/p>\n
PetSmart supports Team USA with collection for dogs<\/em><\/p>\nAhead of the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris this year, PetSmart released a collection of toys and apparel for dogs\u00a0on Thursday.<\/p>\n\nAll toys in the collection are priced under $13 and apparel under $20. The collection is available in stores and online celebrating summer sports like soccer, karate and basketball. It offers tracksuits, hats, gold medal toys and more.<\/p>\n\n\n
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\nCourtesy of PetSmart<\/p>\n
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Additionally, PetSmart\u2019s Doggie Day Camps plan to host a Team USA-themed experience on Aug. 8 with exercise activities, special treats and a photo keepsake. PetSmart\u2019s Grooming Salons through July 28 will offer a summer special service upgrade, priced at $27. The service comes with a patriotic bandana, luxury shampoo and conditioner, a cologne spritz, dog cookie and a coupon book.<\/p>\n
What we\u2019re still thinking about<\/h3>\n $2.14B<\/em><\/p>\nThat\u2019s how much GameStop raised from its latest meme stock-fueled share sale.<\/p>\n
The company said Tuesday it sold 75 million shares under the at-the-market program, the maximum amount. GameStop last month raised $933 million from an earlier at-the-market offering. In both instances, GameStop said it intends to use the sale proceeds for \u201cgeneral corporate purposes,\u201d which could include investments or acquisitions. But Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter told Retail Dive it\u2019s unclear what the company might use the money for.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to identify an adjacent business that allows them to leverage stores \u2014 consumer electronics makes the most sense, but the market there is bad and pretty saturated,\u201d Pachter said via email. \u201cThey have already tried to boost their online sales and failed.\u00a0They\u2019ve tried to sell NFTs and failed. They\u2019ve tried to turn stores into esports lounges\/hangouts and have failed.\u00a0I can\u2019t think of a category that makes sense, and don\u2019t see where they have any meaningful experience operating unrelated businesses, so [I] am unsure about what they can invest in to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
15,000<\/em><\/p>\n\nThat\u2019s how many items Joann said it plans to permanently mark down ahead of a semi-annual promotional event that runs through June 26. The price cuts apply to items across Joann\u2019s assortment, including fabric, yarn, craft items and home d\u00e9cor. During the sale, Joann said 18,000 SKUs will have discounts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are dedicated as ever to helping all customers find their creative happy place, and we are pleased to be able to lower thousands of everyday prices to enable them to create more,\u201d Chief Merchandising Officer Rob Will said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Joann\u2019s announcement comes days after the company named a new interim CEO and a new board of directors. After exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late April, Joann is now a privately held company.<\/p>\n
What we\u2019re watching<\/h3>\n Shrink at self-checkouts or are self-checkouts just shrinking?<\/em><\/p>\nTarget became the talk of the industry in March when it announced a series of changes to its self-checkout lanes, including limiting the checkout experience to 10 items or fewer and allowing managers more control over when to open and close self-checkout lanes. Walmart, too, made changes to the experience,\u00a0removing self-checkout from certain stores in April.<\/p>\n
The most recent battleground for the conversation, though,\u00a0has been at dollar stores. Five Below in March said it would limit the number of self-checkouts in stores and would even be checking receipts in some stores \u2014 and the retailer followed that up in June by saying high-shrink stores now rely entirely on associate-led checkouts. The rest of its stores rely on 75% employee checkouts.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Dollar General said in its last earnings report that it planned to cut the \u201cvast majority\u201d of its self-checkouts as part of a strategy to fight shrink. Experts generally agree that self-checkout isn\u2019t going anywhere, but it does seem to be shrinking. The question is, how much? And is the actual problem with self-checkout shrink\u00a0\u2014 or something else?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Listen to the article 9 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. It\u2019s been another week with far more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmsretail.com\/RetailNews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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