Category: Spending Patterns

Quiksilver’s Mervin Sale Completed for $58 Million, Now Divesting Hawk Designs, Moskova, Surfdome Shop, Plus the State of Action Sports

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They call it their “profit improvement plan” to streamline the brand, and focus, but another way to put it is that Quiksilver, once the kingpin of surfing and action sports, has had to deal with a harsh wake-up call that they simply aren’t popular with their once-core market of teens. Quiksilver hasn’t turned a profit […]

Bread and Butter Trade Show to Allow Consumers for July ’14, Plus Insights From a Rapidly Changing Fashion Industry

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Just one month after announcing their new campaign Ich Bin Ein Berliner (I am Berliner), a more consumer-friendly website, and an online magazine, Bread & Butter trade show has announced new concepts for their July 2014 show which is to include consumers. Given that Bread & Butter tends to cater to the most core brands […]

WeSC Buys Back U.S. License from Oved Apparel Group, Names New America CEO

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We Are the Superlative Conspiracy (WeSC) decided to bring back its license deal, a 10-year arrangement with Oved Apparel, which also has license deals with brands such as PRPS and Modern Culture, in-house in the U.S. to try and get the brand back in line with the American marketplace. According to an interview in WWD […]

Katiness-Fever: Capitol Couture Connects Hunger Games Fashion with Revolution Style

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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire which premiered this past week not only broke box office records, bringing in $307 million in the first weekend, but has also inspired the fashion industry, particular high-end designers to launch film-inspired collections, videos, Tumblr blogs, and magazines. The latest to note is Capitol Couture by Trish Summerville, the designer […]

Youth Lead Walk-Out at United Nations Climate Change Conference in Warsaw—Plus, How Youth Culture Is Changing Sustainable Brand Strategies

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The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Warsaw, Poland, was already dealing with complications from the very beginning, but yesterday, November 21, 2013, a walk-out of some 800 people, mostly young, from organizations such as 350.org, Greenpeace, WWF, Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, and others, left the conference in an act of protest wearing T-shirts […]

Abercrombie & Fitch Reports Loss of $15.6 Million—Latest On the Teen Retailer

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Abercrombie & Fitch continues on its rocky road to turn-around, and announced several initiatives at its November 6th meeting. However today, November 21, 2013, the financials came out reporting $15.6 million net loss. Sales were down 11.7% to $1.03 billion from $1.67 billion in Q3 last year. The transfer of Gilly Hicks to their Hollister […]

Nasty Gal Moves from Online to Brick ‘n Mortar with Store Opening in LA

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In a completely subtle, yet intriguing method, Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso announced the launch of their first store via Twitter. While many brick ’n mortar retailers  are trying to ramp-up ecommerce platforms, Nasty Gal has the advantage of going in the opposite direction. In 2006, Amoruso launched Nasty Gal, a completely cool vintage/new-designer store […]

Ecommerce Study Reveals China As Greatest Market Opportunity; Label Networks Compares Results with Youth Culture Online Shopping Trends

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China tops the list when it comes to ecommerce opportunities in retail bursting to an estimated $271 billion in the next five years. This result comes from a recent study by A.T. Kearney, a global consultant and managing firm that reported the results of the Global Retail E-Commerce Index rankings today, November 18, 2013. From […]

Snapchat Spat-Back Facebook’s $3 Billion Offer While Youth Markets Remain Key Asset

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Facebook’s clearly losing its cool, and as we’ve revealed in our Fall Youth Culture Study 2013, there are other social networks that are taking over what was once considered insurmountable. With the recent news that Snapchat refused a $3 billion offer from Facebook, it’s making Facebook look even more like a MySpace. Even though Facebook […]

Etsy’s New Policies Open Doors for Small Business Growth, But Pisses-off Some Online Artisans, and Revives Question “What Is Handmade?”

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Etsy.com has always been among the leaders when it comes to attracting a community of online artisanal handmade crafters and vintage collectors. But last month, their new policy shifts have raised questions about what exactly, qualifies for being “handmade”—a pre-requisite to host a storefront on their site—and pissed-off the hardcore artists that felt Esty was […]