With more customers returning to stores post vaccination, retailers in the US are finally heaving a huge sigh of relief. Retailers like Walmart and Macy’s are eagerly looking forward to customers’ return after over a year of them migrating to online shopping. One of the reasons for this eagerness is the low rate of returns amongst in-store shoppers as compared to online shoppers, says a Live Mint report. As per Forrester Research, only 8 per cent in-store shoppers are known to return their goods as compared to 25 per cent online shoppers. Also, in-store shopping is more impulsive, says NPD Group. A recent survey by the group revealed 25 per cent shoppers retorted to impulsive shopping while visiting stores as against 16 per cent online.

Share of department stores shrinks to 2 per cent

Yet, physical retailers are likely to face a lot of challenges while attracting shoppers back to stores. After a year of being confined to stores, customers have become more demanding. They are looking for better and convenient shopping experiences. Hence, store traffic has not yet fully recovered to 2019 levels; though it is slowly rebounding.

Data from foot-traffic analytics firm Placer.ai shows, customer visits to stores surged by 43.2 per cent during the week starting May 10 compared to the year-ago period. However, this was still 5.6 per cent less than the same period in 2019. Apparel shopping too surged by two times during the period, bit it was 11.2 per cent less than the period two years ago.

The share of department stores in the retail market has shrunk from 3 per cent in in 2019 to 2 per cent currently, shows data from the NPD Group survey. Against this, the share of discounters’ market has increased from 21 per cent in 2019 to 22 per cent this year. The share of online retail also increased from 23 per cent in 2019 to 26 per cent last year.

Retailers attract shoppers with new merchandize

Though the share of online shopping is expected to increase to 27 per cent in 2024, the rate of this increase is likely to slow down to 15.6 per cent this year and 10 per cent next year, says Forrester. However, physical shoppers are still not expected to visit stores due to the changed retail environment. For instance, beauty retailers are not allowing shoppers to try on makeup due to COVID restrictions.

To entice shoppers, retailers are adding fresh new merchandize to their stores. For instance, Target is opening a beauty section in over 100 of its stores by mid-2021 while Kohl's plans to open Sephora beauty shops in 200 of its locations. Retailers are thus ready to get back to business.

The 1st Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit will be presented by the Conscious Fashion Campaign on July 07, 2021, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships.

The topics to be addressed by the Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit will be based on the priorities that were announced by UN Secretary-General AntónioGuterres for 2021 in order to achieve the SDGs by 2030. The summit aims to initiate multi-stakeholder collaboration, to share sustainability-related insights and to advance sustainable action in the fashion sector on an international level.

The topics to be addressed by the Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit are based on the priorities that were announced by UN Secretary-General AntónioGuterres for 2021 in order to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Keynotes, interviews, panel discussions and performances will be taking a closer look at topics such as Sustainability by Design, Policy for the People, Climate, Oceans, Creatives for the Future and the Global Status of Fashion & Design.

On the panel of the first digital edition of the Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit are leading international representatives from the politics, research, the fashion and textiles sector and NGOs, as well as designers, artists and UN advocates.

The Frankfurt Fashion SDG Summit is one of the core elements of Frankfurt Fashion Week that is actively driving forward and shaping the transformation of a future-oriented, more sustainable fashion and textile industry and shaping this transformation.

The Benettons family willsoon relinquish its control over Italy’s main highway company, Autostrade per l’ItaliaSpA, or Aspi.

As per Women’s Wear Daily, the Benettons’ family holding company Edizione has a 30.3 percent stake in AtlantiaSpA, which has controlled Aspi for more than two decades. The board of Atlantia has agreed to sell the entire stake in Autostrade per l’Italia to a consortium formed by CDP Equity S.p.A., The Blackstone Group International Partners LLP and Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 6 SCSp. CDP is controlled by Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finances.

The deal, which come after lengthy negotiations and false starts, will be formalized on June 10 and is reported to bring €2.4 billion into the Benettons’ coffers.

The sale comes almost three years after the collapse of a section of the Morandibridge in Genoa in August 2018, which caused 43 deaths, evacuations of hundreds of people, and heavy structural damages. Opened in 1967 and part of the A10 highway linking the French and Italian rivieras, the bridge was maintained and operated by AutostradePerl’Italia.

The government had been threatening to strip Autostrade of its lucrative toll-road business since the fatal accident and accused it of neglecting maintenance of the bridge. Aspi is to pay a compensation fee of €3.4 billion.

The European Commission (EU) has been trying to adopt the European textile strategy that encourages apparel and textile industry to become more competitive and sustainable.

As per Apparel Resources, since the last five years, Euratexhas been working on developing a strategy to help the industry move towards a sustainable, yet competitive, future.

The Brussels-based organization has been calling for alignment of EU textile strategy with EU Green Deal and many EU policies such as the new EU Trade strategy, the EU Pact for Skills, and the Sustainable Chemicals strategy, amongst others.

In addition to creating a good balance between sustainability and cost for the industry, Euratex has also been urging to work on areas like research, innovation and digitalization, standards, public procurement, market surveillance, global value chain and more.

The organization along with the Secretariat of the Sustainable, Long-term Investments & Competitive European Industry Intergroup will organize the event ‘The EU Textile Strategy: Source of Competitiveness?’

To be held on June 03, the event will address critical factors for building a competitive European textile industry and also what should be prioritized in the European textile strategy so as to build a new business model that’s based on sustainability, digitalization and fair trade.

A court in the United Kingdom ruled in favor of Nike in an ongoing trademark squabble with Puma that centers on the Beaverton-based sportswear titan’s quest to register the word “Footware” as a trademark for use in connection with computer hardware modules, electronic devices, and computer software.

Following an unfavorable outcome before the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office in September 2020, in which a Hearing Officer rejected Puma’s bid to block the registration of Nike’s “Footware” mark, Puma lodged an appeal with the High Court of Justice in London, arguing that Nike’s registration should be barred because it is a deceptive term, not an indicator of source of the proposed goods and services listed in its application.

In a decision dated May 27, Justice Zacaroli of the High Court of Justice in London dismissed Puma’s appeal, paving the way for Nike’s application for the “Footware” mark – which it filed with the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (“UKIPO”) in March 2019 – to proceed in the registration process.

Global industry non-profit Textile Exchange has launched its latest Material Change Insights Report. As per Eco Textile, the report was launched alongside a new Material Change Index (MCI) Leaderboard, which tracks individual company progress, and an 'Impact Dashboard' which models sourcing impacts.

Textile Exchange launched all the three reports together to provide a comprehensive, multi-pronged analysis of the industry which would enable s users to explore and engage with the data in multiple ways. Through these reports, users can track progress towards the industry’s climate goal of a 45 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, as well as global efforts like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the transition to a circular economy.

As per Claire Bergkamp, COO, Textile Exchange, the Material Change Index is the largest peer-to-peer comparison initiative in the textile industry. It helps companies and suppliers focus their efforts and drive towards substantial change. The 2020 MCI reveals the average overall score is up 9.8 points - or 17 per cent - this year while remaining at Textile Exchange's Level 3 'maturing' performance band. However, the number of companies in the Level 4 'leading' band more than doubled from 16 to 36.

The uptake of preferred materials increased by nearly a quarter, now accounts for 44 per cent of the MCI portfolio. Preferred renewable cotton and recycled polyester accounted for most of this growth. Circularity scores increased on average by 37 per cent with the biggest growth among outdoor/sports brands. Nine companies - C&A, H&M Group, Knickey, MUD Jeans, Nudie Jeans, Outerknown, Patagonia, prAna and The North Face - achieved the 'leading' Level 4 ranking.

Greenhouse gas savings also increased due to the use of recycled polyester. Participation in the program also increased with 191 companies participating this year compared to 173 the previous year, with the most growth within the apparel and footwear sub-sector.

A new report from UK-based card payment provider Dojo shows, the UK consumers’ online searches on reopening on IKEA stores increased by 984 per cent in April compared to February.

As per Fashion Network, consumers also searched for stores like Stores Direct, Homesense, JD Sports, The Body Shop, Waterstones and TK Maxx.

According to Dojo, one reasons for the increase in searches for Primark stores is because the retailer does not have a webstore. Matalan on the other hand, benefited from the fact that it sells school supplies, homewares and many household items, as well as fashion and Clarks is in demand due to kids returning to schools and parents wanting to wait until stores were open to find the best-fitting shoes.

Based on data between April 12 and 29, Dojo says, Portsmouth emerged as top apparel spender with £132 per person. This was followed by Coventry on just over £116, Stockport and West London on just over £106, Guildford on almost £94 and Slough and Manchester on almost £92. Meanwhile shoppers in Derby spent just under £86, in Southwest London they spent just over £84 and in Blackburn they spent almost £81.

Searches for charity shops also increased by 469 per cent while those for nail salons increased by 474 per cent.

US’ Customs and Border Protection department plans to collect antidumping duties in the amount equal to cash deposit rates for imports from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The US Department of Commerce has accused these countries of unfairly selling imports of polyester textured yarn below the fair value in the US at margins ranging from 2.67 percent to 56.08 percent.

The department has directed importers to post duty deposits at AD rates on the date the preliminary determinations are published in the Federal Register. These deposits will be collected until the Commerce Department and US International Trade Commission (USITC) conclude their investigations later this year. At that time, the duties could change, reports Sourcing Journal. Imports of polyester textured yarn from China and India are currently subject to significant double- and triple-digit AD and countervailing duties as a result of prior investigations that concluded in January 2020.

Two major US synthetic yarn producers – Unifi Manufacturing and Nan Ya Plastics Corporation America – filed petitions with the Commerce Department and the USITC in October alleging dumped imports of polyester textured yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam were causing material injury to the domestic industry.

The Commerce Department initiated the investigations in November and the USITC preliminarily determined in December that imports from the four countries were causing injury to the U.S. domestic industry.

Oerlikon has acquired he leading components’ provider Coeudor. This acquisition helps Oerlikon meet the needs of its customers in the luxury market, says Markus Tacke, CEO Oerlikon Surface Solutions Division.

A well-established brand, Coeurdor provides the entire services for design, manufacturing and coating of metallic components to world-leading luxury brands. The company’s accessories form parts of leather bags, belts, watches and other luxury goods. Coeurdor is headquartered in France and has production facilities in Italy and Portugal, employing a skilled workforce of more than 220 employees.

Oerlikon provides innovative surface solutions, such as PVD (physical vapor deposition) coatings for metal and plastic components, diamond-like coatings (DLC) and surface coating systems, as well as additive manufacturing powders and printing services. These solutions serve customers in the aerospace, automotive, medical and tooling markets, and are also used in high-end deco, consumer and white goods. Coeurdor’s expertise lies in designing and manufacturing components and using PVD and sustainable electroplating for the finishing of luxury goods.

Modefabriek transferred its live trade event, that was scheduled to take place from July 11-12, 2021, to a digial platform, reports The Spin Off. Brands and retailers can participate in the Digital Fashion Week Europe, which Modefabriek is organizing in collaboration with Copenhagen fashion trade show CIFF and digital wholesale platform Fashion Cloud from 6-8 July.

Dutch brands like Summum, Ichi, Goosecraft, Scotch & Soda, Juffrouw Jansen and Petrol Industries have already confirmed participation in the digital event. Modefabriek also plans to hold another live event in autumn 2021. Its next regular edition of Modefabriek will be held in January 2022.

Recognized as a procreative and inspiring fashion trade event, Modefabriek is a mash-up of brand presentations, expos, stores, talks, food and drinks, music and more. The event prides itself on creating a relaxed and friendly festival that unites fashion professionals in their desire to connect with each other and their customers.