Weekly News Brief
THIS WEEK IN M&A
Two major announcements hit the airwaves this week, the first was that Marquee Brands acquisition of the BCBG brand portfolio has been approved. The deal, worth $108M, means that Marquee Brands will acquire the licensing rights to the brand, in partnership with Global Brands Group, who will manage the supply chain and distribution.
And on Thursday, Aldo Group announced that it would be acquiring Vince Camuto, a millennial-favorite shoe brand (whose founder also created the Nine West brand). Aldo, with its 3,000-plus global store locations, has been able to buck the downward spiral of many of its mall-brand counterparts (that includes Nine West). They've been seeking additional growth opportunities, and this acquisition will give them distribution across many new doors (both online and offline). The deal amount hasn't been disclosed.
A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP
While private equity firms have saved plenty of retailers from the edge of bankruptcy, the fraught relationship between the two has come into clearer focus with the ongoing retail market turmoil. With PE firms wanting their returns in a maximum of 5-7 years, the pressure on retailers to right the ship, so to speak, can be insurmountable. Or put differently, the short amount of time and cost pressures can make investing in intiatives that could help turn the business around difficult to execute. Retail Dive talks about what happens when the priorities of PE and retail are mismatched.
DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER IRL
Outdoor Voices, the activewear wunderkind, is continuing its brick-and-mortar expansion with a new pop-up in Los Angeles. Undoubtedly, moving from purely digital into physical retail is another key theme of this roller coaster year in retail. So what exactly are these brands trying to tap into? Aside from an additional avenue for growth, they get to engage with consumers in a full sensory experience.
Speaking of digital disrupters, we sat down this week with Away, to learn more about how they're building their brand around the customer and reinventing the travel space.
AS FAST AS AMAZON?
Rent the Runway paved the way for the fashion rental market, and indeed they've learned a few things along the way. With each garment being worn an average of 30 times, they have to get logistics right or else... But what else have they learned? Customers expect items within increasingly shorter time frames. This week they talked with Glossy about the pivots they've undertaken to make same-day fulfillment a reality.
And check out our recent piece in WhichPLM where we discuss this very opportunity of speed, amongst others, for the shared fashion economy.
☀️ THIS WEEK'S BRIGHT SPOT ☀️
Apparel subscription service (and also female-founded!) StitchFix is planning to file for an IPO. The fashion nerds over here are pretty excited because aside from selling apparel, 'they're really good at data,' which has given them an edge in the market in terms of customer loyallty. Their mix of data and the human touch has steered them towards profitability, which bodes well as they take this big next move.