Lululemon reported a 12% jump in fourth-quarter, same-store sales before tempering its 2024 outlook on concerns about slowing demand in North America. The Vancouver-based brand best known for its luxury yoga pants has grown steadily over the decades, winning loyal fans despite increasing competition and building a market cap that put it on the S&P 500.
Abercrombie & Fitch will further grow its presence in London with the opening of a two-story store on Oxford Street next year as part of that shopping district's £90 million renovation. Last year, the fashion retailer opened a new store on Carnaby Street and closed its former flagship on Regent Street.
British fashion retailer Next is optimistic about the 2024/25 fiscal year, forecasting profits to hit £960 million as it continues growth efforts, including expanding its namesake banner internationally and promoting its Total Platform ecommerce offering. In addition to the Next brand, the company owns FatFace, Cath Kidston, and Made.com.
Sephora will shutter all six of its stores in South Korea in early May and exit a market it entered in 2019. From the beginning, the international beauty retailer faced stiff competition from homegrown leader CJ Olive Young, which operates upwards of 1,300 stores across the country and commands about 90% of the market.
Shein is launching "supply chain as a service" that gives brands access to infrastructure and technology to quickly produce items in small batches and track consumer popularity in real time, says executive chairman Donald Tang. Shein has used its small batch operating model to expand to more than 150 countries and has recently faced growing competition from Temu.
Primark is continuing to grow in the US, where the Dublin-based low-priced fashion retailer already operates 24 stores in nine states, with plans to grow to 60 locations by 2026, including five stores set to open this year in Virginia, Florida, Michigan, New York and Texas, says Kevin Tulip, president of Primark US. Word-of-mouth and social media marketing have raised the brand's profile in new markets, Tulip says.
Eighty-one percent of consumers plan to celebrate Easter in 2024, and they expect to spend $22.4 billion, according to NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics' latest Easter survey. This year, consumers plan to spend an average of $177.06 per person on top items like candy, food, gifts and clothing. Hop into Easter insights and read about all the ways consumers plan to spend this holiday.