J.Crew has opened a new flagship store on Spring Street in New York’s Soho neighbourhood, the company announced Thursday.

The two-story womenswear-focused outpost marks the first time the brand will have a presence in Soho since it shuttered its Prince Street store in 2017 in a wave of store closures amid slumping sales.

Since then, J.Crew has undergone multiple rounds of painful restructuring, culminating in a bankruptcy in 2020. Under chief executive Libby Wadle, who took the helm in November of that year, the retailer has pulled off something of a comeback, with help from women’s creative director Olympia Gayot and her counterpart in menswear, Brendon Babenzien.

Gayot helped design the new store in Soho, which will have the largest assortment of women’s apparel and accessories that are typically online exclusive.

“The store offers the chance to invite our customers into the J.Crew lifestyle, marrying two important style influences – coastal and city,” Wadle said in a statement.

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With its new menswear collection under creative director Brendon Babenzien, the retailer has its best shot in years at returning to the fashion zeitgeist.

Sales at Italian luxury group Salvatore Ferragamo fell 16.6 percent at constant exchange rates in the first quarter, the company said on Thursday.

“Over the quarter, our performance was impacted by continued volatility in the Chinese market, as well as a persisting weakness in wholesale and travel retail, further compounded by an unfavourable comparison,” chief executive Marco Gobbetti said in a statement.

Revenues totalled 227 million euros ($244.5 million), below analyst expectations of 237 million euros according a LSEG consensus.

By Elisa Anzolin, editing by Gianluca Semeraro

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Ferragamo CEO Warns Turnaround May Take Longer After 2023 Sales Drop

Sales at Italian luxury goods group Salvatore Ferragamo dropped by 8.1 percent at constant currencies last year, prompting chief executive Marco Gobbetti to warn that hitting turnaround goals could take longer than anticipated.

TikTok said on Thursday it would start using a technology aimed at helping it label images and video generated by artificial intelligence and uploaded to the video sharing service.

TikTok said it would adopt “Content Credentials,” a digital watermark that denotes how images were created and edited. The Content Credential technology was spearheaded by Adobe but is open for other companies to use and already has been adopted by companies such as ChatGPT creator OpenAI.

Researchers have expressed concerned that AI-generated content could be used as misinformation in an attempt to interfere with US elections this fall. TikTok was already among a group of 20 tech companies that earlier this year signed an accord pledging to fight it.

YouTube, owned by Alphabet’s Google, as well as Meta Platforms, which owns Instagram and Facebook, have also said they plan to use Content Credentials.

For the system to work, both the maker of the generative AI tool used to make content and the platform used to distribute the contents must both agree to use the industry standard.

If a person uses OpenAI’s Dall-E tool to generate an image, for example, OpenAI attaches a watermark to the resulting image. If that marked image is then uploaded to TikTok, it will be automatically labelled as AI-generated.

TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, has 170 million users in the United States, which recently passed a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban. TikTok and ByteDance have sued to block the law, arguing it violates the First Amendment.

TikTok already labels AI-generated content made with tools inside the app but the latest move would apply a label to content generated outside of the service.

“We also have policies that prohibit realistic AI that is not labelled, so if realistic AI (generated contents) appears on the platform, then we will remove it as violating our community guidelines,” Adam Presser, head of operations and trust and safety at TikTok, said in an interview.

By Stephen Nellis; editing by Diane Craft

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The company has argued that the law will stifle free speech and hurt creators and small business owners who benefit economically from the platform.

Online retail sales in the US rose about 7 percent from January to April this year, an Adobe Analytics report showed on Thursday, driven by strong demand for groceries and cheaper discretionary items.

Consumer discretionary spending has been in focus over the past several months, as sticky inflation has forced shoppers in various categories to trade down to more affordable products.

According to Adobe’s data, the share of the cheapest units sold in categories like grocery and personal care has increased during the first four months of the year, while the share of the most expensive products has come down, indicating consumers are looking for cheaper alternatives.

For instance, the share of least expensive groceries has gone up to 48 percent in April 2024 from 36 percent seen in January 2019.

Big retailers, including Walmart and Target have laid out conservative forecasts for the year, as shoppers navigate an uncertain macroeconomic environment.

Walmart and Target have also launched affordable private label food brands priced below $5 and $10 respectively.

“We are seeing consumers down-shift and spend more on the cheapest goods within a degree, that is helping categories stay resilient and see continued spending, but it also showcases that consumers are having to manage the inflation they’re experiencing in housing, gas and food,” said Vivek Pandya, Lead Insights Analyst for Adobe.

Total online spending in the period from January to April 2024 grew to $331.6 billion, compared to $309.8 billion in the same period last year. Grocery spending saw highest growth of 15.7 percent, according to the report.

Adobe expects the first half of 2024 to rake in over $500 billion in online spending, representing a 6.8 percent year-over-year growth.

The report relies on direct-to-consumer transactions based on over 1 trillion visits to US retail websites.

By Anuja Bharat Mistry; Editing by Tasim Zahid

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US Retail Sales Top Forecasts as Consumers Keep Fuelling Growth

US retail sales rose by more than forecast in March and the prior month was revised higher, showcasing resilient consumer demand that keeps fuelling a surprisingly strong economy.

Coach handbag maker Tapestry posted third-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations on Thursday as demand for its handbags and accessories continued to falter in the face of high inflation.

Tapestry’s net sales came in at $1.48 billion in the quarter ended March 30, compared to analysts’ average estimate of $1.50 billion, according to LSEG data.

The company’s proposed $8.5 billion buyout of Michael Kors owner Capri is facing hurdles as the US Federal Trade Commission has sued to block it on grounds that the deal would eliminate “direct head-to-head competition” between the flagship brands of the two luxury handbag makers.

By Savyata Mishra; Editing by Arun Koyyur

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Blocking the deal would set a new precedent for fashion M&A in the US and leave Capri Holdings in a precarious position as it attempts to turn around its Michael Kors brand.

Allbirds’ revenue dropped 28 percent year over year to $39 million in the first quarter of the year as demand for its sneakers remains weak, the company reported on Wednesday.

It’s anticipating further sales slumps this year. The company’s revenue will likely drop as much as 25 percent year over year to $190 million in 2024.

The continued slowdown is to be expected for Allbirds amid a years-long plan to return to growth by 2025. But time is ticking for the embattled sneaker seller, which received a delisting notice from Nasdaq in April. It has six months from that date to trade at more than $1 for at least 10 consecutive days or risk being delisted, with a potential six months extension if it doesn’t meet that deadline.

Allbirds’ turnaround rests on the shoulders of former Nike executive Joe Vernachio, who replaced the company’s co-founder Joey Zwillinger as CEO in March. Thus far, its strategy to restore demand has been re-releasing classic styles, such as its Tree Runner and Wool Runner, in updated materials with a promise of improved durability. It also plans to launch a zero-carbon shoe this year.

Still, Allbirds has shown promise in improving its bottom line. The company decreased its operating costs by 16 percent year over year following a pullback in digital advertising and three store closures, with more to come later in the year. Its net losses dropped 22 percent year over year to $27 million. It expects its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation losses to drop as much as 23 percent to $60 million this year.

Investors appear optimistic by the company’s progress. Allbirds’ stock grew as much as 5 percent in after hours trading following its earnings release, but still trades far below $1.

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An executive shakeup at the embattled sneaker seller adds a new layer of complexity as sales decline and losses widen.