Category: Trends

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 […]

Twitter Takes Flight, Goes Public, and Effects On Youth Culture Markets

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Twitter went public yesterday (TWTR), Wednesday, November 6, 2013, offering 70 million shares at a price of $26 per share raising the IPO value to $14.1 billion. (In comparison, Facebook’s IPO last year was $16 billion.) But today, Thursday, on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the stock increased in […]

Olympics’ Sustainability Movement Means New Requirements for Host Cities, Sports, Sponsors

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On Sunday, November 23, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held a summit to discuss sports and the environment and the kick-off of the Sochi Games in February, 2014. Two of the key topics centered around bringing young people into sports and the role of sustainability. As we’ve noted before about the Olympics, they are not […]

Bread & Butter Launches “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” Campaign, Online Platform #BBBConnect, and BBB Mag

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Bread & Butter in Berlin has launched their next campaign for their upcoming show, January 14-16, 2014 at the Airport Berlin Tempelhof called “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” meaning I am a Berliner. The idea, according to the trade show is to bring the feeling of Berlin to everyone around the world interested in the industry […]

Sneakerboy, the Luxury Sneaker-Freaker Buyer, and Fresh Concepts in Retail

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While Nike tends to still hold fast to the notion that sneakers are not fashion, but are first and foremost about high-tech function, niche brands with a nod towards fashion have plowed their way into the cool aesthetics of a new culture of sneaker-heads. Not that Nike’s not on the leading-edge of sneaker style, because […]

Sustainability Round-up: H&M Open Invitation for H&M Conscious Foundation; Levi’s X Dyneema for Longer-Lasting Jeans; Patagonia’s Responsible Economy Program

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Sustainable solutions are key business strategies for many of the top global leading brands targeting youth culture these days. As we’ve noted in our various Sustainability and the State of the Future Youth Culture Studies, sustainability issues are vitally important to a new generation of young people who have grown-up with recycling as a part […]

Quiksilver to Sell Mervin Manufacturing, Owners of Popular GNU and Lib Tech, to Extreme Holdings In Latest Divestment of Non-Core Assets

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In their on-going efforts to streamline assets and reduce amounts drawn on its credit facilities, Quiksilver announced October 23, 2013 that it would be selling Mervin Manufacturing, owners of the popular snowboarding brands GNU and Lib Tech, to Extreme Holdings, Inc. an entity advised by Altamont Capital Partners, who also advised on the deal when […]

Dr. Martens, Quintessential Punk Boot, In Talks with Hugo Boss Owners for $485 Million Buy-out

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To be privately held for more than 50 years in the fashion industry is about as punk rock as it gets. But Dr. Martens, the quintessential boot of music icons and the genre of punk is in talks to move on from the Griggs family in a potential $485 million deal with Permira, owners of […]