Espresso,The Filter

Walker & Company’s rebirth and the benefits of humble founders

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon expands its fleet of electric delivery vans in Munich, it will create terminals for customers to checkout using their hands and ended its ban on FedEx.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Gap will no longer spin-off Old Navy, Starbucks will open 85 stores in under-served areas by 2025, Bose will close all of its U.S. stores and Rent the Runway will launch a brand made from recycled materials.

Espresso,The Filter

Equinox Media vs. Peloton: Two diverging approaches to brand architecture

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Kohl’s stores accepting Amazon returns in Chicago saw an increase in sales over the holidays, Amazon will launch a luxury platform in the US, Amazon warned shoppers that Honey was a security risk and Jeff Bezos received criticism for his donation to Australia wildfire recovery.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: The secondhand beauty market is growing, Bath & Body Works reports 40 quarters of consistent sales growth, New Guards Group acquired Opening Ceremony and Goop will launch a wellness cruise.

Espresso,The Filter

The modern fallacy of trying to “own” a product category

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Goop will sell its wellness products in Sephora, Highsnobiety entered physical retail with a pop-up in Selfridges, Sweetgreen wants to move beyond salads and Casper laid off 30 employees.

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon threatened to fire members of the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice group, Ikea will no longer sell its products on Amazon and Walmart will launch a self-service advertising platform to compete with Amazon

Espresso,The Filter

The 2010s were the decade of private labels, not digitally-native brands

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon blocked sellers from using Fedex, A group of businesses are joining forces to compete with Amazon and Walmart will test driverless delivery

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Fashion Nova relies on underpaid workers, Cities across the U.S. want dollar stores to sell fresh food in impoverished areas, Hypebeast reported rapid growth this year and technology companies are trying to fix unreliable clothing sizes.

Espresso,The Filter

As copycats proliferate, Allbirds’ quest to find its brand is existential

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Prime customers are experiencing shipping delays, Amazon and Refinery 29 launched a holiday pop-up shop in New York City, Amazon France will launch an automated donation program for unsold inventory and Amazon-owned websites could be added to the “Notorious Markets” list.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Kering is looking to acquire Moncler, Rent the Runway partners with W Hotels, Glossier opened fragrance-focused pop-up shops in seven Nordstrom stores and Away CEO’s fear-based approach, combined with the pressure of hyper-scale led to poor customer service.

Espresso,The Filter

Nike’s failed Amazon partnership means it can now double-down on its direct-to-consumer business

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Protestors picketed outside of Jeff Bezos’s home on cyber Monday, The “Amazon effect” is flooding landfills with cardboard and Target and Best Buy are maintaining their market share against Amazon.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: TheSkimm is looking for a buyer to fund its media business, Macy’s and Bloomingdales opened hotel pop-up shops in New York City for the holidays, Lego acquired the secondhand toy marketplace BrickLink, and Yerdle, a full-stack resale platform for brands, is expanding as first-party and third-party resale platforms.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: PayPal bought Honey for $4 billion, Jet.com ended its New York City grocery delivery service, Charlotte Russe plans to open an even larger fleet of stores in 2020 and Airbnb launched Cooking Experiences

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon launched the Amazon Dash Smart Shelf for business customers, will open cashierless Amazon Go supermarkets and ended its program that lets advertisers include samples in customer’s orders.

Espresso,The Filter

Kylie Inc’s sale to Coty is the bailout both parties wanted but neither needed

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Nike will no longer sell on Amazon, Amazon protested the JEDI contract and new cashierless grocery stores are emerging to compete with Amazon.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Rent the Runway expanded its partnership with Nordstrom, Marie Kondo launched an ecommerce platform, Studs launched online and in New York City and Gucci opened a client service center in the U.S.

Espresso,The Filter

Peloton and the existential need for vertical integration

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon launched a small business academy, is experimenting with new seller features, Steve Kessel will leave the company and Costco and Instacart partner to test a one-hour prescription delivery service.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Birchbox is opening 500 pop-ups in Walgreens stores, Ferrari will launch a line of luxury clothing and accessories, Vince bought Rebecca Taylor and Parker and Kesha will launch a beauty line.

Espresso,The Filter

Everything that can go wrong with the unrestrained food service at Nordstrom’s NYC flagship store

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Walmart added alcohol to its grocery pickup service, Amazon sells movie tickets in India and Kacey Musgraves will host a Christmas special.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Faire raises $150 million to grow its wholesale marketplace, Lululemon partnered with Mirror, Direct-to-consumer brands are using corporate gifting programs to acquire customers and JCPenny will launch a retail lab.

Espresso,The Filter

What did Untuckit do right that J.Crew did wrong?

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon bought Health Navigator, will launch a news video app, eliminated monthly fee for AmazonFresh and Target announced free next-day shipping.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Rebag created a tool to standardize luxury bag appraisal, Brooklinen launched a marketplace for direct-to-consumer brands, LVMH is bidding to buy Tiffany and a cannabis cafe opened in West Hollywood

Espresso,The Filter

Amazon’s private labels are only responsible for 1% of sales, but for how long?

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon is accused of shipping expired food, charges toy companies to be in its catalogue and Best Buy will offer next day delivery.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Mira debuted its eponymous beauty search engine, Nordstrom will open its first flagship store in New York City, Affirm launched a new mobile app and Lego might create a rental service.

Espresso,The Filter

Is the risk of Le Tote buying Lord & Taylor worth the reward?

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon will ship individual low-priced items, published its social positions and Walmart started a price war.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Kohl’s introduced digitally-native beauty brands, Walmart will deliver groceries directly to your fridge, The Children’s Place will relaunch Gymboree and LVMH invested in Madhappy.

Espresso,The Filter

Rent the Runway needs to own up to its flawed communication strategy

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: The U.S. Supreme Court denied Amazon’s workers’ wage appeal and Amazon introduced a Kindle for kids

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Walmart sold ModCloth, Burberry partnered with The RealReal, Stitch Fix allows users to buy individual items and Zulily will launch a price comparison tool

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon pushed small businesses, will expand grocery in LA, Amazon Go will be in airports and movie theatres and Alexa expands to wearables

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: McKinsey opened a retail store, Instagram launched a product drop reminder feature, SoulCyle is a stand-alone fashion brand and Best Buy hired a Chief Medical Officer

Espresso,The Filter

Kylie Skin, Harry’s and why top multi-brand retailers still have the Midas touch

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon copied Allbirds, Alexa will take campaign donations and Paycode becomes available in the U.S.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Thingtesting raised capital, Louis Vuitton created virtual products, Foot Locker launched a brand incubator and Shopify supports CBD businesses

Espresso,The Filter

Matt Scanlan, brand platforms and the founder-as-a-platform

Espresso,PrimeTime

PrimeTime: Amazon alters its search algorithm to promote its brands, Amazon Go stores expand and an Amazon tech hub opens in Chicago.

Espresso,The Grinds

The Grinds: Walmart revitalizes Scoop, Nordstrom Local accepts returns from its rivals, Victoria’s Secret changes its marketing strategy and Madewell separates from J. Crew

Espresso,The Filter

#KimOhNo, SKIMS and the ups and downs of Kim’s most ambitious brand