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By popular request, we’re testing out this new format that summarizes market-moving news and themes each month. Hope you’ll take a moment to give it a read, share feedback, and subscribe here to ensure you’re on the list.
Leadership Changes
Nearly two-dozen companies named new CEOs. Notable among them:
- A struggling Burberry replaced its CEO with American fashion exec Josh Shulman
- Petco nabbed Five Below's CEO, Joel Anderson, leaving the latter company with an interim
- A handful of DTC darlings named non-founder CEOs (AG1, T3, Béis, Public Goods, Flipper’s World)
- LVMH and Richemont both shuffled CEOs around within their jewelry and watch divisions
CIO and CTO appointments spiked, with a new, AI-savvy set taking the helm at Macy’s, Nike, Ralph Lauren, and the newly-formed Saks Global.
Fashion’s game of Creative Director musical chairs continued. With open seats at Chanel, Tom Ford, Givenchy and Dries Van Noten, the rumors are flying around who’s headed where.
Financing/M&A
Two high-profile acquisitions came to fruition (EssilorLuxottica/Supreme and Neiman Marcus Group/Saks Global), while Macy’s terminated buyout talks with Arkhouse and Brigade.
Private Equity activity spiked in the consumer space, reaching the highest levels we’ve tracked all year:
- TSG’s majority growth investment in Summer Fridays (Prelude Growth exiting)
- Westlane Capital Partners’ purchase of near-defunct Beauty Bakerie
- Platinum Equity’s acquisition of sports retailer GSM Outdoors (Gridiron Capital exiting)
- Mubadala Capital’s majority stake in luxury stroller brand Bugaboo (Bain Capital exiting)
- CORE Industrial Partners’ majority growth investment in maximalist makeup brand Winky Lux
- L Catterton’s 42% stake in Value Retail for ~$775 million (REIT Hammerson exiting)
Bankruptcies included Delta Apparel, Conn's and Bob's Stores - the latter two plan to liquidate.
Industry News
Move over sports giants –non-athletic brands from Birkenstock to Glossier got in on LVMH’s Olympic Games (which ties into the broader global gold rush around sports in general).
In store news, international brands opening first stores in Paris was trending ahead of the games. Megastore openings were also a trend, including LuisaViaRoma’s “flashy” NYC flagship, IKEA’s plans for an 80,000 sq-foot “meeting point” store on NYC’s Fifth Avenue, and Prada’s big return to Hong Kong.
The DEI upheaval hit corporate America, with Tractor Supply, John Deere, and Microsoft making attention-grabbing headlines.
The MLM landscape abruptly winnowed, allegedly at the hands of TikTok Shop, with beauty brands Rodan + Fields, Beautycounter, and Seint Makeup all switching over to affiliate models.
Major retailers went all-in on super sales, hosting Prime Day-esque deal days, while attempts to juice Back-To-School sales in July fell flat.
The proliferation of Retail Media Networks continued, with adjacent industries jumping into the increasingly competitive landscape.
Amazon Prime Day broke records, again.
Earning Reports
The headline news came out of the luxury sector, where Hermès, Moncler, Zegna, and Prada posted positive results, while Kering, LVMH, Hugo Boss, and Burberry signaled an ongoing slump in demand.
Top-Clicked Articles
Of the 500+ news items we summarized in July, the most read items were:
- Jamie Salter’s ambitions for ABG beyond “Zombie Mall King” (Bloomberg)
- Saks Global takes shape, triggers appointments, consolidation and layoffs (WWD)
- Patagonia tells remote CX employees to relocate or leave (Footwear News)
Executive Placements
We are an executive search partner to the world's most compelling brands. This month, our placements started at:
- Vans (Global President)
- Dior (Merchandising)
- Solo Stove (eCommerce & DTC)
- PacSun (Marketing)
- Yankee Candle (Retail & DTC)
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