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Ulta is keeping true to their word, with a plan to open an additional 250 store throughout 2022 (adding to their over 100 stores last year). The locations aren’t yet known, but the continued expansion of the brand coupled with what we’re learning from previous expansions into the Target demographic space demonstrate that the consumer... Read more »

Across the industry and throughout the consumer space, BIOPOC-focused products and providers are in the spotlight. Ulta recently put their money with their hearts are by unveiling a $50 million investment in DE&I (a doubling 2021’s $25 million commitment) saying that its focus is across four categories: bolstering underrepresented voices, diversifying product offerings, and improving... Read more »

While 2020 saw a slough of retail closures, whether temporary (in response to regional COVID outbreaks) or permanently for this and a myriad of other reasons, 2021 saw only slight improvements throughout what many insiders had high hopes would be a year of return to more traditional numbers – at least partially. But not to... Read more »

All eyes are on this season’s Black Friday numbers. The industry’s been watching the holiday numbers with growing anticipation for the past few months, but this season’s Black Friday will be one of the first bellwether events that we can point to in order to identify the most accurate forecasting markers being used. However, the... Read more »

As a strong retail holiday season dangles before us – B&M retailers race to restock inventory. The Supply Chain hasn’t quite recovered from the onslaught of online purchases initially fueled by convenience and later by the global pandemic (for perspective, a relatively common once-in-100-year natural cycle of viral hardship that is, for the most part,... Read more »

The Delta variant of COVID-19 has up-ended high expectations of a solid economic return… But this time, as opposed to last year, we’re seeing its negative effects in the seemingly pandemic-proof DIY space. Despite a five-quarter financial high, the numbers are now in and Lowe’s and The Home Depot are seeing data suggesting that the... Read more »

As mask guidelines change, consumer experiences will be affected, but can retail leadership help? Let’s dive in… CDC mask guidelines have now largely reverted to the more stringent standards we saw a year ago during the (previous) worst peaks of the pandemic. And as retailers across the United States play catch-up with these newly-updated guidelines,... Read more »

Louis Vuitton-owner LVMH says the future of retail is in-store Whether you take it as a foreboding insight or a position requiring a grain of salt, their research shows that Brick & Mortar is still king… for the foreseeable future, anyway. According to the chief financial officer at LVMH, Jean Jacques Guiony, the consumer still... Read more »