The Weekly Closeout: Beyond Yoga opens its first store and H&M looks to cut costs

Another week has passed with much more retail news than now. Below, we break down a few things you may have missed during the week, and are still thinking about.

From Build-A-Bear NFTs to the start of the holiday season, here’s the weekend.

what you missed

H&M considers customer return fees as expenses rise and strong dollar impacts profits

A pullout from Russia, rising shipping costs, a strong US dollar and a broader macro economy in Europe and elsewhere are among the pressures on H&M earnings, CEO Helena Helmerson told analysts on Thursday. The Executives on the call said the fast-fashion retailer was responding with an overhaul of expenses likely to improve the bottom line sometime in the second half of next year. The company is also experimenting with an unusual policy in retail clothing – charging customers for returns. H&M competitor Zara has already gone down this path, trying to deal with the high volume of revenue settled in e-commerce.

At H&M, it’s just a running experience. “We’re about to test return fees in a few markets to see how customers respond. So let’s see how they receive it,” Even if it worked, Helmerson said, it would take time to implement. “It everything depends on…how it was received by the customer. That’s why we’re running a test to see if this is something that needs to be tracked quickly.”

TOMS appoints new CFO and COO

shoemaker Toms named Dorothy Sade As CFO and COO, according to a report by Footwear News.

Sed previously served as VF Corp. Europe Vice President, brings experience from brands such as LVMH, Ralph Lauren, The North Face and Patagonia, According to Sadd .’s LinkedIn profile.

Former CFO Martin Donsheimer has left his role in Toms to become CFO in Boosted Commerce in June.

Beyond Yoga opens its first permanent store

after a year Levi’s acquired Beyond Yogatrade mark Opening of its first permanent store “With more locations on the horizon,” according to a company press release. The first yoga company store opened its doors Wednesday in Santa Monica, California after the company Experience a popup in The Grove Shopping center in Los Angeles. A store is set to open at the Irvine Spectrum Center, also in California, later this year.

The 4,000-square-foot store will offer a mix of active and lifestyle goods, including pajamas, maternity and men’s retail launched in 2019. Beyond Yoga is also partnering with six other products”women’s companies To showcase products in its stores, including Dagne Dover and Sunday. From Monday, shoppers will be able to schedule a visit to the store, and before that staff will choose which products to try based on their purchase history.

“Retail expansion is an exciting moment for the brand and we can’t wait to meet more of our customers in person,” Michelle Wahler, co-founder and CEO of Beyond Yoga, said in a statement.

Retail therapy

building bears? More like Build-an-NFT

Prepare your wallets. Baby stuffed animal company Build-A-Bear is auctioning a non-fungible token starting at just $2,500 starting Tuesday at 12:00 PM ET.

The best part? The winner will get Limited Edition Stuffed Bear Embellished with Swarovski crystals and a red crystal heart, according to a company press release.

Released in partnership with the NFT Sweet platform, it is part of NFT’s three-phase release. The next two phases, taking place in November and December, will feature another limited edition that carries a set of randomly generated NFTs for each, respectively.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you when your child starts asking about it.

What are we still thinking about?

-28%

This is the amazing size of Bed Bath & Beyond’s Sales decline in the second quarter. The retailer’s net loss also increased fivefold to $366.2 million in the period. As it is now known, the company is striving to correct itself after a series of annoying quarters, with new loanplanned list Stores closing layoffs, and the search for a new permanent chief after Mark Triton left after the last quarter, which also saw Bed Bath & Beyond sales bleed.

1 billion dollars

This is roughly how much Amazon plans to spend wage increase For frontline workers in fulfillment and transportation operations. These hikes are set to begin in October, and will raise Amazon’s average starting wage from $18 an hour to more than $19 an hour. One group of amazon workersbased in California, said the increase was not enough and demanded a $5 increase.

what we’re watching

Economic uncertainty looms over the holiday season

Retailers are still operating on holidays, although many have scaled back their hiring targets.

Will they be ready? With inflation-weary consumers eager to find bargains, the day after Halloween won’t mark the unofficial launch of this year’s holiday retail season; At Amazon and Target, gift guides have already been discontinued and both retailers have scheduled holiday sales events for early October.

As retail executives prepare for their clients to be deeply budget-conscious this year, many must also work through the piles of unsold inventory that have accumulated as consumers retract discretionary spending. “I hesitate to call it a bloodbath, but it would be ugly in terms of the amount of cutbacks and write-offs,” Urban Outfitters CEO Richard Hayne told analysts last month.

Retailers are also grappling with higher prices, including additional fees for holiday shipping. However, as the back-to-school season has shown, consumers are spending, according to research from the NPD Group. As of September 17, sales to date are down 2% from a year ago, with demand only slightly lower and unit sales down 8%, according to that report.

“[T]The consumer excitement of stepping into stores in order to find deals they missed over the past two years has the potential to spark increased activity for retailers who are creating a sense of urgency around traditional peak days of in-store traffic,” Marshall Cohen, senior retail industry advisor to NPDHe said in a statement.