June has finally arrived, meaning the official start of
summer is just around the bend! While Memorial Day Weekend cut the work week
short and gave shoppers another day of relaxation, the week thus far has
brought no shortage of news to the table. Here’s some tidbits you may not have
heard about.
Rue
La La Opens Pop-Up Shop With Cotton Inc.: Fashion retailer Rue La La is
set to launch its first pop-up shop in partnership with Cotton Incorporated. The
co-branded #SummerofCotton pop-up shop will be located at 144 Newbury Street in Boston for
two days only, on June 4 and 5. The weekend pop-up shop will include a DJ,
a fashion illustrator, a GIF photo booth, sweet treats and free tote bags. When
the physical pop-up shop closes, the cotton Boutiques will be offered on RueLaLa.com
at 3 p.m. ET on Monday, June 6, and will be live for seven straight days.
Austin Reed To Close All
Stores: UK-based luxury menswear retailer Austin Reed it shuttering all
120 of its stores after administrators failed to find a buyer of its tailoring
stores. The Austin Reed brand name will live on however; fellow UK retailer
Edinburgh Woolen Mill purchased the Austin Reed and Country Causal brands, as
well as five Austin Reed concessions located within outlet stores. The Austin
Reed e-Commerce site is no longer accepting new orders, but any purchases
already placed will be delivered. Additional stores are likely to go to other
bidders for the business who earlier dropped out of the sale process.
Galeries Lafayette Launches Tech
Accelerator With Plug And Play: French specialty retail conglomerate
Galeries Lafayette has partnered with Silicon Valley-based technology
accelerator Plug And Play to create a three-month program located in Paris aimed
at mentoring fashion and retail startups. As part of the program, selected
applicants will gain access include access to a new working space, sponsors,
industry experts and €25,000 in seed investment in exchange for a future 5%
equity stake. Target
is in the process of building out a similar accelerator program with
startup advisor Techstars in the hopes of bolstering innovation throughout the
company.
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Under Armour Expects To Lose $120 Million On Sports Authority Bankruptcy: Sports Authority’s bankruptcy is causing damage beyond its own brand, with Under Armour taking a financial hit worth $120 million. The apparel and equipment retailer will only be able to collect $43 million of $163 million in revenue it expected through Sports Authority in 2016, according to the company’s updated 2016 outlook. Under Armour did not initially expect to be significantly impacted by Sports Authority’s bankruptcy, even as the sporting goods retailer was unable to pay off a $23 million loan.
That’s all for this week. Don’t miss out on the rest of the
retail happenings covered on the RTP home site!